Wu Feng Qi Lang
by genevra
Summary: Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. Waves Without Wind.
1. Audrey

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** As the summary says, the title means 'creating waves without wind.' It's Chinese.

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I also don't own the song 'Hunter.' That would be the awesome Dido. I have also taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter One:** Audrey

* * *

_If you were a king up there on your throne_

_Would you be wise enough to let me go_

_For this queen you think you own_

_Wants to be a hunter again_

_Wants to the see world alone again_

_To take a chance of life again_

_So let me go_

_Let me leave_

'**Hunter'** by Dido.

* * *

The sun shone in the windows. It was a cliché, she knew, but something about it felt different. She moved to roll out of bed, away from her husband, but sometime during the night, she had twisted and writhed and the sheets were now tangled around her, separating her from her sheet less, uncovered husband as if they were both the separate entities they had been when they entered into the marriage and not the one being they had presumably become. They were kept apart by a fine white line, a mist almost, but there was no denying it. There was no more sleeping so close they almost melded into each other. No, there were two separate people on two separate sides of the bed. The sheets only amplified that.

And made her smile.

-

She walked with a spring in her step as she traipsed around the master bedroom of their palatial apartment, flinging clothes and shoes around superfluously. Logan exits the bathroom, wrapped in a white towel, beads of moisture clinging and slipping down his muscular frame. He still has a beautiful body though the once tan expanse is mottled with faint, white squiggly lines. Scars for which his perfect body was opened, scars which he bled to get, so much blood that he felt faint. The scars, in his wonder days, were seen as a triumph. No pain, no gain but in the future, where they now live and breathe and bump along, they seem frivolous and stupid. What was once beautiful is now not. What was once perfect is now not.

Their life was perfect but then something happened.

"You look happy today," Logan said, as he walked over to his bureau and pulled out a pair of boxers. He let the towel drop and pulled the black satin over his legs.

"I am happy," she answered. She glanced over at him, standing so vulnerably in his half-naked state, and she is momentarily blind-sided by a pang. She is going to crush him and she can't wait to do it.

"That's good," he replied. He moved towards the closet they barely share (he owns too many clothes and she owns too many pairs of shoes so consequently, their belongings are flung into linen closets and spare room closets and tucked into bookshelves) and pulls out a light-blue (or is it white? She can't tell in the blinding light) shirt which he quickly buttons over his chest. "You haven't been happy lately."

"I haven't been me for a long time," she answered. She picked up her favoured shade of lipstick. 'Tea Rose,' the bottom proclaimed. 'Number 141' previously thought by the general public to have been discontinued but nothing was discontinued when you were a Hayden, a Gilmore and a Huntzberger.

"I'd noticed. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, pulling on his long black pants.

"I don't think I do," she replied. She painted on her lips and when satisfied with the colour, smacked them together. She pulled the pony-tail out of her hair and ran a brush through the lengthened locks.

"You're hair has never been so long," Logan noted. He walked up behind her and bent to give her a perfunctory kiss. She tilted her cheek to him and he willingly, lovingly obliged. (Too bad he doesn't realise there's anything wrong. Too bad he just can see. Too bad she can't say he just didn't listen and he never does because the truth is, she never told and he always did).

"You like it long?" she asked. It can't hurt to have a semblance of normality to start the day.

"I like it any which way," he fobbed her off. She looked up to glare at him and he smiled playfully. "I love it long."

"I might cut it off then," she answered and when she saw the look on her face she realised there was a fair bit more malice and truth than she had intended.

"What are you going to do today?" he asked, cleverly ignoring her. (Or pushing it aside so he doesn't have to deal with it anymore. She can't tell and he certainly isn't telling her).

"I have a DAR meeting with Grandma then I thought I'd meet Honor for lunch," she shrugged. She reached into a small, black, faux alligator skin jewelry box and pulled out a pair of small diamond studs from Tiffany's. She effortlessly slid the poles into her ears and fastened them tightly. She managed to keep the boredom out of her voice but Logan frowned anyway.

"Do you ever think about going back to work?" he asked. She flinched and then froze in an attempt to cover up her flinch. (Did she ever? It was all she ever thought about. That was part of what she was going to tell him tonight. But he wasn't supposed to think this. this wasn't her plan. He was supposed to see her exactly as his family saw her. A trophy wife because as much as she hated admitting it to herself, when she married him, it was what she wanted to be. Someone who went to Yale to pass the time between school and marriage. Just another Emily, another Shira, another Penilynn Lott.).

"Sometimes, I guess," she said with a nonchalant shrug. She looked at her Cartier watch and frowned. "You're going to be late, sweetie. You should go."

"I'll see you tonight," he whispered. He bent down and went to kiss her on the lips but she pulled away.

"The lipstick," she reminded him.

"It's going to get left on the side of a coffee mug ten seconds after you get to the DAR anyway," he reminded her but she is adamant so he kissed her on the cheek instead. "I love you."

(When was the last time he said it? He can't remember and she can't remember but he does and he's said it now).

She stood when he left and checked out her reflection in the mirror. She's a modern day Audrey Hepburn, a replica of a time not forgot. Beautiful and resplendent in her little black dress, her black sling-back heels and splash of rouge. She sighed and closed her eyes tightly, pushing her eyeballs into the back of her head.

She's not happy and she's bored. She longed to be back in the jeans and denim skirts of youth, to be in t-shirts and ponytails and flats. She looked over her from once again and her breath caught when she saw her wedding rings, nestled into the soft flesh of her finger.

Part of her even wanted to go back to the time that land has now forgot. The time where there was no Logan, no husband and wife. To a time when there was freedom and singularity and stringless fun (because girls just want to have fun, stringless fun).

But part of her knows, even after tonight, there will be no going back to that single state. And the rest of her knows that she loves him too much and she is too far gone. She will not survive and her body knows it but her head and her heart don't and it is they, the life-giving parts of her body, which need to be convinced.

Why change a good thing? Why fix it if it ain't broke? (And in the words of 'Beauty and the Beast's' Cogsworth 'Why fix it is in ain't baroque?). If the shoe still fits and the nail can still be hammered and the world still turns around, why bother?

Because Rory Hayden (he asked her to take her name but it was all she had left of her parents and she just couldn't do it) didn't want to be that modern day Audrey anymore, or that modern day Donna Reed. She just wanted to be Rory. Gilmore, Hayden, Huntzberger, Fairchild or Smith. It didn't matter. Just as long as she could be Rory, getting her hands dirty and playing in the (or ink as the case would be) working and making a living and distinguishing herself. Lorelai would not have been 'so proud' if she knew what Rory had become (the girl she hated, the girl she refused to be).

They could go back. They could be one and they could be two.

And she would tell him that. Tonight.

(Would he even care? Would he cry? would he applaud? Would he laugh at the ludicrousness of it all?)

Only time would tell.


	2. Ripping of the Bandaid

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** As the summary says the title means 'creating waves without wind.' It's Chinese. Rory does tell Logan her news in this chapter. I guess last chapter was more confusing then I meant it to be. I re-read it and there are a few things I'd like to change but I just don't have time. I will explore how Rory let herself become a trophy in the next few chapters. Hope you like. Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Two:** Ripping off the Band-aid

'_You can't steal a bell while covering your ears.' _**Adeline Yen Mah.**

* * *

Rory strolled into the quaint tea-room her grandmother was holding the DAR meeting at. She pressed her lips together and realised she had left her lipgloss in the car. Her mouth, her lips were so dry that she could almost feel them sticking together, unable to pull apart. She turned to quickly run out to her black convertible (to flee the meeting or just get her lipgloss, who knew?) but was stopped by her grandmother.

"Rory! I am so glad you're here. I could use your opinion on the table settings," Emily twittered. Rory pasted a smile onto her face and let Emily drag her inside the room.

"I think the place looks great, Grandma," Rory said. "The table settings are fantastic. Really."

"They're not too much?" Emily asked, wringing her hands.

"No, Grandma," she said. She leaned over and kissed her grandmother on the cheek (Emily was not going to take Rory's news very well). Emily flinched momentarily, not used to the contact but recovered quickly and squeezed Rory's hand.

"Is everything okay, dear?" she asked. She narrowed her eyes and appraised Rory all over. (Saw her, really saw her). "What's wrong, Rory? Is it Logan or something else?"

"Something else entirely, Grandma," Rory said. She smiled softly. "Not here and now, okay?"

"Okay," Emily said, uneasily. She still looked uncertain. "You will make sure to tell me, wont you?"

"Of course. It's something I have to discuss with Logan first but," she replied. Emily's face immediately brightened and a smile appeared on her face.

"You're not?" she gasped. Rory looked at her confused. "Pregnant?"

"Oh. No, Grandma, I'm not," Rory replied, a small laugh. She thought she saw Emily's eyes dim a little (not thought, did) but they both kept on smiling anyway. They were blessed to be interrupted.

-

"Rory, is everything okay?" Honor asked. She shook the girl who had become her friend by default (and not an unpleasant one at that). Rory took in a deep breath and glanced at her friend.

"If I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out?" Rory asked.

"I can't promise anything," Honor said, airily. "After all, this is the country club. People come here to freak out. Saves a fortune in newspaper fees and the like."

"This is serious," Rory whispered fiercely. Immediately Honor's eyes widen and she grins.

"Rory Hayden, you are pregnant, aren't you?" she asked. "Oh, I am so excited. Jeffrey and Lucinda need a cousin."

"I'm not pregnant," Rory answered quickly. "I'm not even sure I want to have kids."

"What? Of course you do," Honor replied. She shook her head. "If you're not pregnant, then what is going on?"

"I'm just not happy," she whispered. A small, lone tear worked its way down her face and fell down her chin. She looked up from the table and into Honor's eyes. "Your brother is going to kill me."

Honor's reaction was exactly what she was looking for, exactly what she thought.

This was crazy but for some reason, she wanted to do it anyway.

-

She didn't want to tell him. she didn't want to do it. she didn't want to break his heart. If only there was another way. Maybe if she leaked it to enough people, it would get back to him. Maybe…

She was a coward.

-

"So, what's the big news?" Logan asked with a big grin on her face. He sat across from Rory and reached for her hand. She let him take it and watched as their fingers lay intertwined. She inhaled and then blew out the breath, causing the hairs that were currently in her eyes to blow around.

"Are you sure you want to do this here, not at home?" she asked. "Or possibly somewhere you hate and won't be worried about never returning too?"

"Is it that bad?" he asked, his face dimming a bit. He went to pull his hand away but Rory grabbed harder and pulled his arm so hard that he knocked a glass of red wine onto the pristine white tablecloth. (Could she let him go? Could she? Could he let her go?)

"Sorry," she said, closing her eyes. She opened them again and looked up nervously at the waitress who seemed to appear out of thin air beside her. She bit her lip and let go of Logan's hand as the girl expertly cleaned the tablecloth. "I bet it happens all the time."

"It rarely happens at all," the girl practically growled. She glared at Rory who shot her another apologetic look. Logan looked like he was going to laugh but at them same time he was concerned about what Rory could have to say.

"I'm really sorry," Rory shrugged. "It was an accident. I'm happy to pay to get it cleaned or for a new tablecloth."

"That won't be necessary but thank you," the girl replied. Rory offered her a smile again and she skulked off.

"Oops," Rory said. Logan had chosen now and sat on the edge of his seat, leaning towards her. (Why oh why did he have this sinking feeling in his gut?)

"I want to know exactly what this new is," he said suddenly. (Did he, did he really?)

"Oh, okay. Umm, sure," Rory replied. "Here? Are you sure?" (Are you, are you really?)

"Yes," he whispered. (No, said his head. You do not want to know.)

"Okay," she said. She leaned forward slightly and cleared her throat. "Umm, Logan, I have been offered a job in Paris."

"Okay," he replied. No emotion showed on his face. (But oh, to see the look in his eyes).

"Lauren from L'Oreal called me and asked if I'd like to go over there for two years to look after their press releases and the like," she said. "And I said I'd talk to you about it but I would really like to say yes. I loved working there before we get married. Why not go back?"

"Sure," he said. Rory was taken aback. (Taken aback? She was floored).

"'Sure?'" she gulped. "What do you mean 'sure'?"

"Well, why not? I mean, you want to go back to work and you love Paris. It's only for two years, right?" he replied nonchalantly. "I didn't think you'd be able to leave your parents but."

"I'm sure they won't notice," Rory replied. She looked at Logan. Looked hard at Logan. "Logan, are you okay?"

"Sure, I'm fine. My wife just told me she wants to go to Paris for two years for work."

"And you're okay with it?" she asked, confused and if she admitted it, hurt. (Hurt? She was devastated).

"So what does this mean for us?" he asked.

"I don't know. It means that we're apart for two years and then I come home and we're together again," she shrugged. "I guess I hadn't really thought about."

"Right. Apart for two years. Like Sherry was only going to be in Paris for two years?" Logan asked. "Sherry is your ex-stepmother, Rory. Heavy emphasis on the ex. I think it's a great idea. But, hey, why don't we skip the whole time thing and get divorced before you go. Or I could come with you. How about it, Ace? You and me in Paris for more than a Valentines Day weekend?"

"Logan, I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, I'll be working all the time and what will you do over there? I can't ask you to take two years off," she said.

"You don't want me to go, do you?" he asked. (She didn't have to answer). His voice broke a little but he somehow managed to squeeze out the next few words. "You're serious about this. Are you sure you don't want the divorce?"

(Please say no please say no please say no).

"No," she said adamantly. She shook her head and closed her eyes tight. Her voice seemed to squeak. "I don't want a divorce. I just want to go to Paris. I just want to work again."

"Why in Paris? Why can't you just get a job over here?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I don't have to take it. I said I'd wait. That I'd talk to you before I made my decision. I mean, it's a great opportunity."

"But you didn't wait," he said. "You've already made up your mind. Haven't you?"

"Yes," she admitted, rocking ever-so-slightly as she said it.

"Why bother pretending to ask my opinion then? You knew you were going to take the job. Bringing me here and 'asking' my opinion was more of a formality wasn't it?" he asked. She made no move to answer so he leant across the table, further than was polite and hissed into her face. "Wasn't it?"

"Yes. No. I don't know, Logan. Okay? I don't know," she said (or did she shout it?) People were starting to stare and she was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"I have an idea. Let's not think about it anymore. Let's celebrate," he decided. He stood up and tapped the side of his glass with a fork. "Hey! Hey, can I have everybody's attention please? My wife is leaving me to go work in Paris for two years and I think its cause for celebration so please, a toast. To Rory. Good luck in Paris!"

A few people half-heartedly raised their glasses and muttered an agreement, a table full of drunken people joined wholeheartedly in but the majority of the restaurant ignored him or looked at him as if he was crazy, drunk or both.

Rory lowered her head into her hands and sighed. (How did you think he was going to take it, Hayden? How? You thought it would be easy. You've been looking forward to this).

Even she didn't know why.

-

She skulked around the house quietly, taking in deep breaths occasionally. She opened a closet door and ran her fingers over the silky white fabric of her wedding dress. This wasn't like Dad and Sherry. No, not at all. This is worse because she loves Logan and he loves her. (Not together out of circumstance but together out of necessity. Cant bear to be apart).

The more she thought about it, Rory did know why she wanted to go and did know why she had to go alone by herself but it seemed stupid. Her marriage should have meant more to her than a job but her marriage was the only thing people knew about her.

Her marriage and her parents.

She crawled into bed next to Logan and he lay still as she slid an arm around him and placed her head on his chest. (He didn't push her away. Didn't have the strength).

"I don't understand why you have to go to Paris," he said. "I could get you a place on one of our papers."

"Exactly. I got this job offer on my own," she replied. "I didn't need your help."

And then it becomes so abundantly clear. This is a pride thing. And they are silent but they do not move.

(Maybe they can lie there and pretend nothing has changed).

Next chapter will show Luke's reaction and will also explain what happened to Lorelai and Chris.


	3. New Wounds in Old Places

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** As the summary says the title means 'creating waves without wind.' It's Chinese. I know I said you'd find out about Lorelai and Chris this chapter but you'll have to wait till next chapter. Hope you like. Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Three:** New Wounds in Old Places

_'These wounds won't seem to heal  
This pain is just too real  
There's just too much that time cannot erase.'_

_My Immortal by **Evanescence. **_

"Rory," Luke said. A smile lit up his face and Rory's heart warmed to see it so. (He hadn't smiled much since then. Not since all the way back then). "What brings you here?'

"Your coffee of course," she smiled. She walked over to him and let him hug her awkwardly.

"It's good to see you. Sit down," he said. "Can I get you some coffee?"

"Coffee would be great," she agreed. She waited patiently as he pulled out her favourite pale green mug and filled it with her poison of choice. "Who needs alcohol when you have coffee, huh, Luke?"

"Sounds about right, kid," he replied. "Of course, I do like my beer every once in awhile."

"And I like my coffee once in awhile," she shot-back lightly.

"But I do not drink it at a rate that is going to cause me to die prematurely or so much that it stunted my growth. Rory, you could have been five ten or five eleven," he mocked, shaking his head. "Instead of just five nine."

"How do you know I'm five nine?" she asked. (Please don't say her name. Please).

"I made your drawers. The new ones that... I was asked to make them and I wanted to know your height so I could make them to the right height," he shrugged.

"Luke, that is so sweet," she grinned. "You old softie."

"Don't spread that rumour again," he replied gruffly. "Patty still tries to hug me when she sees me out on the street, Babbette asks me to hold Apricot and Sookie tries to get me to look after Martha."

"How is Apricot doing?" Rory asked. She remembered cooking dinner for Dean dresses in that ridiculous (but cute) Donna Reed outfit when she was supposed to be looking after the kitten. "She'd be getting old now."

"Actually, you just missed her eighth birthday. If you had of come in yesterday instead of today, you could've joined in the festivities."

"No!" Rory gasped. "Oh, was there cake? Please tell me there was cake."

"There was cake and party hats," Luke answered.

"Stars Hollow," Rory said warmly. "There is just nowhere like it."

"I hope not," Luke said. "This place is full of lunatics and control freaks. The whole town should be instutionalised."

"And yet you still stay here," Rory said, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged and leaned against the counter, glancing out past her, out to the street.

"I guess you could say I'm the craziest of the lot," he murmured. They sat in silence for a moment and eventually, Rory turned around in her seat to watch the inhabitants of Stars Hollow go about their daily lives.

"I'm going to miss it here," she said softly. There was a hint of sadness in her voice and it shocked them both. Luke dragged in a deep breath and then let it out. He made no effort to rejoin the conversation as if he knew where it was headed. (As if he didn't want to know).

"How's that husband of yours?" he asked finally. Rory turned back in her seat to face him and the counter.

"Logan is great. He is amazing," she gushed. "Very supportive and… he's just good."

"He's finally taking you away from here, huh?" Luke asked. Rory shook her head and lowered her eyes.

"I am taking me away from here," she corrected. She eventually drew her eyes up to meet his and she saw the sadness swimming in them.

"Is he going with you?"

"No. I have to do this by myself. I'm… I'm going to Paris. I have a job with a cosmetics company. It's a great opportunity, one I couldn't pass up," she explained. "I've been thinking about going back to work for a long time and then this job came up and it seemed perfect."

"I get you," he said. "Are you doing this for the right reasons though?"

"Of course I am," she said, a little defensively.

"I just wanted to make sure. I'm not entirely sure it's the best idea. What is wrong with here? Why Paris, Rory? Why?" he practically shouted. She tilted her head up at him and he saw the tears in her eyes. (They were identical to her mothers. Identical blue, identical tears, identical goodbyes).

"You know why Paris," she answered evenly. Their eyes stayed glued to each others until eventually Luke looked away.

"I just want what's best for you, Rory. That's all I ever wanted. Since you were twelve, it is all I have wanted," he said.

"I know, Luke. And thank you for that but I have to do this. You know I do," she replied.

"I know it," he said. "I think you're brave."

"I'm the opposite of brave," she disagreed. "I just want things to be normal again. That's all. I want my comfort zones, my security blanket going back."

"You are brave to be going. What if you don't find what you're looking there?" he asked.

"Then I come back and nothing has changed. So as you can see, I'm not brave. It's a win-win situation," she shrugged. She looked at your watch. "I should get going. Logan is meeting me for lunch in Hartford."

"I'll miss you, you know that," he told her tenderly.

"I know that. I'll miss you but it's only for two years and think what we'll have if I find what I'm looking for," she said. They hugged again. "I think you would have been a great step-father, Luke."

He nodded and flashed a small smile. (He just couldn't get his mouth to move).

"I promise I'll come back," she said. She looked at Luke, squaring her shoulders and hardening her eyes so he could see she meant it. "I promise I'll come back. I'm not her."

"I know you're not," he answered. "Take care, Rory."

"Take care, Luke," she echoed, at a loss of what to say. She turned to leave but stopped at the door when she heard Luke whisper something. She turned and looked at him inquisitively.

"I guess I am an old softie at heart," he shrugged. "Gilmore girls are my weakness."

"Ah, but the only Gilmore girl I know now is my grandmother," Rory replied.

"You'll always be a Gilmore to me," he answered. He stood still as Rory walked over to him.

"I'm sorry my mother didn't marry you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. And with that, she pressed her lips to his cheek and pulled away quickly. She seemed to flee the Diner, seemed to flee the town and he watched her go, the entire time thinking 'she looks just like her.'

(And she had left too).

-

"Rory?" Logan called. He entered the bedroom and found Rory lying across the bed on her stomach. She was watching a DVD he vaguely recognized and she looked up briefly when she heard him.

"What's up?" she asked.

"I think I know why you want to go to Paris now," he said.

"You're such a detective," she answered. She reached for the remote and flicked off the TV.

"You're DVD is still playing," he said.

"You're such a smart one," she answered in the same tone as before. She was colourless, monotone, vapid.

"Ace?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I feel so bad for Luke," she answered. "I went and saw him today and he is a broken man.

(And you are a broken woman, he thought but did not say.)

"I thought all the pain had gone away but it hasn't. Not for me. Not for him. And the worst part is we aren't even trying to put it behind us. Not him. Not me. I am doing the complete opposite. I'm going to Paris where the cause of my pain is. I want relief. I want resolution."

"But what if it isn't there?" he asked. "What if you can't find it?"

"At least I tried," she said.

"Rory," he said tentatively. "If the job that was offered to you wasn't in Paris but in Washington, New York or even Miami, would you have taken it?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Is it the getting away from me part or is it the working part?" he asked. He couldn't look at her while he asked but that was okay because she couldn't look at him.

"The working part, of course," she answered. "The working part. I just don't want to be a trophy wife."

"I didn't know you were one," he replied. "I tried not to make you one. I knew that wasn't what you wanted."

"It wasn't you, Logan," she answered honestly.

He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek.

(What more could he do?)

-

"_Logan, I have a postcard from Paris," Rory said._

"_Paris, the city or Paris, the girl?" he asked from his position on the bed. He lay across the very middle, spread out, reading the paper. She walked over and tickled his bare back and kissed it before settling in near him. She sat with her back against the headboard and her legs across her husband's back._

"_Paris, the city," she answered. "Paris, the girl lives two streets away."_

"_There's a city writing you postcards now?" he asked._

"_You better believe it," she replied. She turned it over and read it, drinking in every word. She paused when she got to the end and read it again. Over and over again, she read it, trying to make sense of the scribbled letters. (Rory couldn't read Latin. She knew she should've taken the course when it was offered. Surely that was why she couldn't make sense of it. Surely that was why. It was in Latin. It had to be. Surely)._

"_What does it say?" Logan asked, having waited impatiently for ten whole minutes._

"_I don't know exactly. Do you read Latin? I think it's in Latin," she answered._

"_What?" he asked, rolling over and sitting up. He joined her sitting against the headboard and read it over her shoulder. "Oh, Ace. Oh, Ace."_

"_It's in Latin, right?" she asked. "Or Sanskrit or ancient Greek? Cyrillic even? It has to be because I'm not quite sure I understand one bit of it. Logan, please tell me that this doesn't say what I think it says."_

"_Oh, Ace," he repeated. He looked away, unable to see his wife in so much pain. She turned to him and pulled his head around so he had no choice but to look at her._

"_It isn't in another language, is it?" she asked. Logan shook his head softly and waited to see how his wife would react. She simply looked at him, dropped the postcard and shrugged. "I guess she is a grown-up now. I guess he is one too and I guess they can make their own decisions."_

"_Rory, are you alright?" Logan asked, barely able to trust his face. (Trust his voice? What about her? Listen to her go)._

"_Of course I am," she replied. "I'm fine. This is fine. After all, we're all grown-ups and it's their decision to make. It's fine."_

_(But it wasn't and that was the day she changed)._


	4. Someone Like Her or Her

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** As the summary says the title means 'creating waves without wind.' It's Chinese. I know I said you'd find out about Lorelai and Chris this chapter but you'll have to wait till next chapter. Hope you like. Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Four:** Someone Like Her (Or Her)

* * *

"_Was it for this I uttered prayers,  
__And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs,  
__That now, domestic as a plate,  
__I should retire at half-past eight?"_

**_Edna St. Vincent Millay _**

* * *

She hadn't meant to say yes. She knew what was coming when he'd asked her to meet him at the scene of their first meeting. She had known and she hadn't meant to say yes but when he had dropped down on one knee and when she saw the look on his face and when she realised how big a crowd had gathered around them and when she realised how much she wanted it, how much she would love to be his wife, all she could do was open her mouth wide and nod her head and eventually whisper a small 'yes.' He had sprung up and his grin had magnified (if that was even possible) and he had pulled her into his arms so hard so fast, she had almost lost her breath.

(She hadn't meant to say yes but not a day went by when she didn't thank God she had).

But he had promised he wouldn't try to change her. He had made her promises he couldn't keep. He promised her the world, rather, he promised he would not change her world. He promised she could keep her job, could keep her life, could keep herself. And she couldn't blame it on him. Because he had kept his promise but she hadn't kept up her end of the bargain. She had promised never to leave him, never to become who he didn't want her to be (he didn't want, didn't need a trophy wife when had Ace), never to become who she didn't want to be.

She wanted to blame him because she needed to blame someone and it didn't seem fair to blame it on someone intangible, on someone untouchable. She needed to put a face to a name (a face to possibly slap to the name she hated) and he was here, he was close, he was tangible, she could reach out and touch him. She could reach out and touch him right now but something held her back.

If she was honest with herself, she didn't blame Logan and it wasn't fair to let him think she did. It was a hell of a lot less fair to blame him then to blame someone she loved more than anyone, more than even him. Someone with who she thought she had an unbreakable bond, someone with who she thought she would have for the rest of her life. (Not that she didn't have that with her husband, but it just wasn't the same as the other bond in her life). It should have been easier to blame the person who had deserted her and it was just simply not right, simply not right at all to blame Logan whom she loved so dearly and so tenderly and who she thanked God for every night.

(But she did it anyway).

It was easier than blaming it on... her mum.

-

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," her grandmother said abruptly. "What on earth are you thinking? Leaving your husband and going off to Paris like this."

"It's for work, Grandma," she tried futilely. Richard shook his head and looked disappointed and angry. Rory almost swore she could see steam coming from his nose and ears.

"What do you really think you are going to find over there?" Emily asked. "Lorelai and Christopher don't want to be found. If they wanted to be found, we would have found them by now. People who go missing like that want to stay missing. And believe me, the amount of private eyes I have sent over to Europe searching for them, I would know. Instead of coming back with my daughter and my son in-law, those men have just come back having rested and stayed in some of Europe's finest hotels and eaten in the best restaurants on my dollar. Rory, you are not going to find your parents. If I can't then you can't because believe me, I have tried. I have tried everything and nothing is bringing them back."

"And yet you still think there's a chance you might find them, Emily," Richard butted in. She glared at him but he was right. "You keep sending them over and over again. You should listen to your own words."

"Grandma, Grandpa," Rory interrupted. She yelled their names again over their loud bickering until they stopped and looked at her. "This isn't about Mum and Dad at all. This is about me. Look at me. I am living the kind of life you didn't want me to live. I didn't go to Yale for four years and work my butt off to be the general manager of L'Oreal's publicity only to lose my job and organize DAR functions and look through catalogues at bedroom sets for the rest of my life. And Grandma, don't be offended. It's your lifestyle and it suits you. It's what you wanted and you love it but this isn't what I want."

"I am interested to know how you got yourself into this position," Richard admitted.

"And I'm not offended. I understand. I often wonder myself how you ended up more like me than like you," Emily agreed.

"I'll tell you how I ended up like this," she said softly. "I woke up one morning and I didn't have a job and instead of actively looking for more work or staying home on the couch watching bad movies so I could get sick of that lifestyle, I frocked up and went to a DAR meeting then to Sotheby's with Grandma. Logan seemed so happy with me not working because it meant I would be home every night to greet him and I would be able to see him off every morning. That is how I became this. I let it happen to myself and I'm sorry for that but now its time to change my fate. I am going back to work and please don't ask 'why Paris?' or 'what's wrong with working in America?' because I can't answer that. All I know is I wanted a job and a place opened up in Paris and I decided to take it. It has nothing to do with my mum and it has nothing to do with my dad."

"So why can't Logan go with you?" Emily asked, not at all convinced that Rory was going for work and for work only.

"Because I don't want him to give up his career to advance mine," she admitted.

"I don't quite believe you but if it's what you have to do," Richard said finally. Rory nodded and offered a small smile. "It's not as if we can stop you anyway. You are a grown woman and you can make your own decisions, be they for the right reasons or not. Just don't be disappointed if you don't get everything you expect."

"Oh, Rory, we will miss you so much," Emily gushed.

"It's not the end of the world, guys. It's only two years," she said. She saw Emily recoil slightly at the use of 'guys' and it amused her. "Hey, I promise I will come back. I am not my mother."

"You certainly are not," Emily agreed.

(But she saw it in both their eyes. Rory and Lorelai were one and the same).

-

"Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai," Logan muttered under his breath. He remembered the day, no, the exact minute that they had discovered Christopher and Lorelai had disappeared. He cursed not the day nor the hour nor the minute because it wasn't the time that had changed Rory. He cursed the mother because the mother was what had changed Rory. She had been delighted when her parents had married in a small, private ceremony two and a half years ago (needless to say, Luke had not been invited nor had his huppah been used). She had been thrilled to change her last name to Hayden when they had asked and she had been thrilled when they had gone to Europe the year before on a delayed honeymoon. She had just been thrilled. Work was well, Logan was well, life was great but then came the postcard. They didn't even have the decency to do it in person or on the phone. (Couldn't do it face to face or voice to voice). He wish he could turn back time, could stop the postcard from coming, could stop his wife from reading the postcard, could make things go back.

But the postcard had come and his wife had read it and been crushed. And then she had started withdrawing from him, into herself. Had stopped going into work enough that serious doubts were raised about her commitment to the job. It was Logan who had stepped in and taken over, telling the company that Rory was having some serious work issues and would not be returning. Not indefinitely, just not yet. He had thought she would heal but she hadn't and not yet had become indefinitely and board meetings had become DAR meetings and he had become less like her mother and a whole lot less like Rory.

Someone a bit like Emily.

-

"_Logan, I have a postcard from Paris," Rory said._

"_Paris the city or Paris the girl?" he asked from his position on the bed. He lay across the very middle, spread out, reading the paper. She walked over and tickled his bare back and kissed it before settling in near him. She sat with her back against the headboard and her legs across her husband's back._

"_Paris the city," she answered. "Paris the girl lives two streets away."_

"_There's a city writing you postcards now?" he asked._

"_You better believe it," she replied. She turned it over and read it, drinking in every word. She paused when she got to the end and read it again. Over and over again, she read it, trying to make sense of the scribbled letters. (Rory couldn't read Latin. She knew she should've taken the course when it was offered. Surely that was why she couldn't make sense of it. Surely that was why. It was in Latin. It had to be. Surely)._

"_What does it say?" Logan asked, having waited impatiently for ten whole minutes._

"_I don't know exactly. Do you read Latin? I think it's in Latin," she answered._

"_What?" he asked, rolling over and sitting up. He joined her sitting against the headboard and read it over her shoulder. "Oh, Ace. Oh, Ace."_

"_It's in Latin, right?" she asked. "Or Sanskrit or ancient Greek? Cyrillic even? It has to be because I'm not quite sure I understand one bit of it. Logan, please tell me that this doesn't say what I think it says."_

"_Oh, Ace," he repeated. He looked away, unable to see his wife in so much pain. She turned to him and pulled his head around so he had no choice but to look at her._

"_It isn't in another language, is it?" she asked. Logan shook his head softly and waited to see how his wife would react. She simply looked at him, dropped the postcard and shrugged. "I guess she is a grown-up now. I guess he is one too and I guess they can make their own decisions."_

"_Rory, are you alright?" Logan asked, barely able to trust his face. (Trust his voice? What about her? Listen to her go)._

"_Of course I am," she replied. "I'm fine. This is fine. After all, we're all grown-ups and it's their decision to make. It's fine."_

_He took the postcard from her hands and read it again, double, triple and quadruple checking, making sure it hadn't changed, that the words were just put together._

_(But they weren't and that was the day she changed)._

-

And the postcard remains, to this day, picture side tacked up, on the corkboard in the study. Logan knew the words off by heart but still he took it down and read it, trying to make sense of it again. Did it even make sense? What clues were there to tell the world why Lorelai and Christopher Hayden really didn't want to come back? What were they running from and where were they going and if they loved their daughter so much, why couldn't they take her along? They had taken G.G. with them. He wasn't even Lorelai's own. Rory was the only thing they both owned together and she wasn't privy to their life anymore. It seemed incredibly wrong and incredibly unlike Lorelai. She had never left Rory out of any part of her life before and now… this.

"_Rory. We are not coming back. Paris is the place for us it seems and we cannot bear to leave. We'll be in touch, ok? Please don't think that we don't love you because we do. Oh, how much we do. And how sorry we are for leaving you and how much we will miss you. You will never know it, kid. But this isn't about you. Its about us. We want this to work and we have a snowballs chance in hell of making this marriage work at home. We'll be in touch but we will never be back. We love you, kiddo. Love, your parents. xx. PS. Please don't look for us. You wont find us. And don't think its you we're leaving because Heaven knows its not. We know one day you'll understand it."_

No wonder she wasn't who she wanted to be anymore. She had created that person with Lorleai.

(And little by little, the blocks fall into place and it makes just a little more sense).

But barely.


	5. All Doors Open

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** As the summary says the title means 'creating waves without wind.' It's Chinese. I just thought you should know that this story has taken a rather different turn than I had planned but its okay because I don't hate it. Sorry it's been so long for an update. We're moving and things are crazy here. I'm trying to clean out a house that has two houses worth of furniture in it and things aren't going so well because I have run out of boxes. Whoopee! Hope you like. Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Five:** All Doors Open

* * *

"_Make believe  
that you don't see the tears  
Just let me grieve  
in private 'cause each time I see you  
I break down and cry  
And walk on by (don't stop)  
And walk on by (don't stop)  
And walk on by."_

_Walk On By written by **Burt Bacharach**_

"If I asked you to stay, would you?" Logan asked.

"Probably," she replied, too tired or too unwillingly to lie. She rolled over onto her stomach so she was facing Logan. "But you wouldn't ask me to stay."

"Probably not," he agreed. "Not for lack of not wanting you to stay."

"I know that," she answered. They lay in the near-dark staring at each other. (Not trying to memorise each other. They had already done that). She felt for Logan in the dark and when her arm hit his hard, sculpted chest and when her head moved onto the space her arm had just been, she felt that his breathing was shallow and quick. He was tense and he was scared. "What is it?"

"Ace, are you trying to tell me that you love your parents more?" he asked, tentatively. Rory almost smiled. She knew he had rehearsed the question over and over in his head and that he had been dying to ask her for ages. But she couldn't smile. (The love she felt for him and the love she felt for them was so different. Entirely different).

"Huntzberger, I can't believe you would even ask that," she replied. She kissed his chest and sat up so she could look down at him. "If it were you in Europe, I would have been on the first plane I could."

"Yes, but I wouldn't abandon you, Ace," he told her.

"Ouch," she whispered. She lowered herself back down and rested her head against his chest. She liked to hear his heartbeat before she slept. It almost convinced her she was real. Tonight his heartbeat was erratic but she knew hers was too.

The words hurt. (They stung). But she knew they were true.

-

"Are you sure you have everything?" he asked. He sounded weary. Weary and panicked and concerned. How someone managed to sound all three of those at once was a mystery to Rory but nonetheless, Logan sounded weary, panicked and concerned. She assumed it was an act and that he was actually trying to cover up his true feelings. He was gutted and he knew it and he knew that she knew. Or so she hoped. (Her wise mother had once told her that 'assuming makes an ass out of you and me' but all things considered, maybe Lorelai wasn't the best person to be taking advice from).

"Everything I need," she replied. "And if I don't, I can always buy it."

"Yes, I think your salary has ensured you can afford to buy anything you've forgotten. Heaven knows we don't need the money," he reminded her.

"I know," she said. "It's not about the money."

"I know but I wish it was. Maybe that way you wouldn't have to go," he whispered.

-

"Don't roll away from me like that," Logan said, his voice breaking the silence like a gunshot or a cracked whip. Lorelai Leigh Hayden whimpered slightly but didn't move away. "Please don't spend our last night all the way over in the South Pole while I lie here in the North Pole. It's cold here. I need you."

"I won't go," she whispered. She felt him stiffen and she sighed. "I won't roll away from you in this bed, in this our bed. I'll stay close."

"I almost can't bear touch you," he said. "But I can't bear not to touch you. I don't want to let go of you. Not now, not then, not ever."

"Please don't ask me to stay because I don't think I could say no," she replied. He heard the tremor in his voice and he responded by placing kisses in her hair. She sighed and lay there, awake and unsleeping, wrapped in his arms.

She thought back to the morning, barely two weeks ago, when she had been thrilled to think that she and Logan were falling apart. The morning when they had woken up, separated, the sheets acting like a flimsy white barrier (soft and flowing, a little leeway). What an idiot she had been. So sure she wanted to leave him, so sure she wanted to be herself, so sure she didn't want to be a trophy wife.

She still didn't want to be a trophy wife but she only had herself to blame. But she didn't want to leave him now. She couldn't believe she ever had. At first, it had been a pride thing. At first it had just been a job (a job she wasn't going to take) but then when she realised it was Paris and the possibility of seeing her parents had screamed at her and had made itself known, she knew she had no choice but to take the job that had been offered to her. At first she had lied even to herself. That it was just because she wanted to work, wanted the chance to make her mark on the cosmetics world (when had her priorities changed? Even she didn't believe it. It was the world, not the cosmetics world she wanted to leave her mark on) but then slowly, minute by minute, moment by moment, second by second the truth started to sink in.

She didn't care about cosmetics. Didn't care about re-branding and re-packaging, didn't care about her job (she'd have been happy as a secretary at the paper, that's how much she wanted to work) all she cared about was finding her parents, getting the answers to her questions. She had become a woman obsessed, a woman consumed. She needed to know now and she was going to find out and bless her husband.

Because he wasn't stopping her. Was he?

(No because he wanted to know too. He wanted Rory back).

-

"Bye, bye house," Rory whispered as she hiked her cabin bag up on her shoulder. She looked over at the lift where Logan was waiting. He was watching her intently and sighed when she held up her finger asking for one more moment. She walked over to the closet and opened the door. After that, she opened the bathroom door and most of the cupboard doors in the pantry.

"Ace! Come on, let's go. You're going to miss your flight," she heard her husband call.

"And I'm going to miss you," she whispered to the empty space, the tears welling up in her eyes. She backed away to the door and smiled, looking at the swinging pieces of wood. "There. Now there'll always be a door open for me."

-

"Maybe when I come back, I'll change my name to Huntzberger," she murmured.

"Really?" he asked. A smile split his face in two and made his eyes twinkle.

"Sure," she said. She moved closer to him and played with the lapels of his coat, lifting them up and then smoothing them. She pecked him on the cheeks. "You are my husband, my most reliable family. I should have done it a long time ago."

"It would make me happy," he admitted. "I never really liked the idea of us having different last names but I know how much it means to you to finally have the same last name as both of your parents."

"Have I always been so selfish?" she asked. "I was willing to give up my marriage just to track my parents down."

"You were?" he asked, stepping away. (News to him but not news to her).

"I thought I could use the excuse that we were growing apart, that we wanted different things in life. I wanted to work and you wanted to work and we both wanted to work so that wasn't really true," she admitted.

"What you really wanted was an excuse to go to Paris without feeling guilty," he said.

"Yes," she sighed. "That is what I wanted. I didn't want to be tied to anything. What if I find them? What if I don't want to leave? I wanted the option of being able to stay, of being able to run away like they did."

"You still can," he offered. "I'll let you. I just wish you had of told me earlier. I could have had some divorce papers drawn up and you could have taken them with you and signed them whenever you felt the need. I would have been okay with that."

"Logan!" she yelled. "Why? Why do you always have to do that? This was going so well. Why did you have to ruin this?"

"Ruin this? Ruin saying goodbye to my wife for two years. And don't say it isn't two years that we'll see each other soon because no matter what way I look at it, its still two years and its still two years without you. We only have eighty years in a life and it took me twenty of them to find you and another five to bag you," he said. He paused and looked down at the ground. "I want to spend the other fifty-five years of my life with you, so what's two, right? But then I got thinking. What if when you get there, you realise you feel differently about me than I feel about you? Or you fall in love with some guy name Henri or Georges Luc? What if you don't want to be alone in the city of love? I mean I get it. I really do. I just wanted to leave all the doors open for you, give you options like you gave them to me. Boyfriend or bust, you know?"

"Stop it," she ordered. She stepped towards him and although he grabbed her hands, he was using them to push her away from him. She gripped his hands and wouldn't let him go. To his credit, he didn't struggle. (And to her relief). "I don't want to divorce you. I feel differently now. I just need closure, Logan. I need closure. I need to say goodbye face to face. And when I've done that, I want to know that I'm coming home to you because I love you. I love you, Logan. I love you. If I don't want to be alone in the city of love, I'll buy myself a dog. A poodle and I'll call him Georges Luc because that is the closest I am getting to falling in love with a guy with a fake-sounding French name."

"You always have been this selfish," he whispered, answering her earlier question. (And it has always killed us). "Spoilt too. It comes with being an only child."

"Ah, but I'm not an only child. I have a half sister," she argued. "A half sister. She only belongs to one half of my parents and yet they took her. I belong to them both and they left me here. Left me here with you."

"And I'm eternally grateful if not a little devastated and worn-down," he replied. She rolled her eyes and walked towards him and threw her arms around him so quickly that he didn't have time to walk backwards or push her away. "This wasn't how our goodbye was supposed to go."

"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, Logan. I really am. For telling you I thought about leaving you and for actually leaving you."

"It's what you have to go," he shrugged. With great difficulty and a shuddering voice, he continued. "If you decide you want me to come too, just call me. I'll drop everything and I'll be there in an instant."

"Thanks but I think I have to do this on my own," she whispered. She looked up at him and smiled. They kissed and kissed and kissed and kissed, pressing into each other as if they could leave a permanent imprint of themselves on each other. When they finally wrenched away, Rory could see blood on Logan's lip. She wiped it away and pecked him quickly one more time. "I should go."

"I guess you should," he agreed.

"I love you, Huntzberger."

"And I you, Ace."

She turned and squared her shoulders. She made it to the gate before she turned around and ran back to him, throwing herself into his arms. He held her tight and breathed in the floral scent of her hair.

"Why haven't you asked me to stay?" she sobbed.

"Because I want you to do this," he said. "Because you need to do this. I want you back and it's the only that is going to happen."

He lowered her to the ground and tenderly wiped her face of the tears that had stained it. She nodded and struggled to smile.

"Don't try to smile. Just turn around, square your shoulders and get on that plane. Don't think about it and don't turn around. I'll be here when you get back and I'll be waiting for you," he said.

She nodded and bravely turned around. She felt his eyes watching her as she showed the hostess her ticket. She took the ticket back and looked down to see it fluttering. She tried to steady her hand because she knew Logan was watching and she wanted him to think she was being brave when really she wasn't. She walked slowly towards the plane (as if walking through cement) and she fought so hard the impulse to turn around and see him one last time. (What if he had left already? Unable to watch her go). She turned at the very last minute to see him watching her intently. She bit her lip and his eyes lit up. She raised a hand in goodbye and he mirrored her move.

They stood there, watching and looking, as long as they could until the hostess moved towards her and told her she could not stand there any longer, she had to get on the plane. Rory couldn't physically move, couldn't turn herself around. She said this to the woman and she looked from Rory to Logan (at least he assumed because he saw her lips moving). She must have seen something there, something in their eyes and she nodded. She gently put her arm around Rory's shoulder and guided her, walking backwards to the plane. Eventually, Rory had to turn around and when she did, Logan felt his heart collapse through the door.

"It's only two years," he whispered to himself, eliciting looks from the other non-first class passengers. "Only two years."

(Right?)

But he knew it would be less because he had told her not to turn around, not to look at him one last time and she had.


	6. Lorelai Always Said

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Okay. So I have no idea what happened last chapter. I didn't realised I'd posted it already because I had hated it but then I changed some things and added new things and I liked it so I posted it but as soon as I found out I had posted it twice, I took one off but for some reason, it didn't show that I had deleted it. Weird. Sorry! But to make up for it, here's a new chapter. Gen. Xx

**A/N2:** I have decided that Rory isn't going to work for L'Oreal anymore because that was just dumb. She's going to work for a fictional magazine because then I can create my own rules and people. Lol. I just realised how close to Lorelai that L'Oreal is.

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Six:** Lorelai Always Said

* * *

"Oh my gosh. I have to get myself some of those boots," Gina cried, her British accent reverberating across the crowded café square. A dozen elderly French folks, for whom the café was their morning haunt, glared at her for breaking their peace and muttered to each other under their breath before grumpily resuming their café au lait and croissants. Another group of assorted young fashionistas, models and magazine people, still searching for the right roadside café to finish their morning routine (much like Rory and her friends) followed Gina's eyes across the road to the woman wearing the boots and nodded in understanding.

"Cherie, why don't you go over and ask her where she got them?" Faye asked, in her undoubtedly French accent. It always made Rory smile when she saw how multicultural her office was. 'Pour Les Femmes' subscribed to the practice of hiring the best person for the job, regardless of nationality, and in Rory's little clique, it showed. "Or get Rory too. She never hesitates to ask."

"Lorelai always told me that if you like something, you should always go for it and if that means stopping a possibly evil woman in the middle of the street to ask where she got something, that's just what you've got to do," Rory shrugged. "Or if you see something you like in the window of a shop, even if it's Madison Avenue, you should take a single leap across the road and land in the doorway."

"I guess you really like Lorelai then, huh?" Gina asked. "I mean, you came all the way over to France to find her."

"I don't know that I really like her anymore," Rory admitted. "Look at what she did to me. She left me. She abandoned me. But I really like having a mother and I'd really like to know what happened to her."

"I still can't get over it. You and Lorelai loved each other. I remember when Faye and I were in the US with you, she was always popping into the office or calling you. I used to be so jealous but now, I don't know. If that's what mother's who love you do, I'm glad that Mama and I aren't close."

"Darling, you will find her. I know it," Faye said softly, placing a manicured hand on Rory's. "Ooh, I love the colour of your nail polish. What is it?"

"A concoction of my own," Rory said, a smile slowly spreading across her face and into her eyes. She loved how quickly her friends could change the subject when they sensed she didn't want to talk about Lorelai anymore. (When had she stopped calling her mum?)

"That's it," Gina said. She stood up and wiped her hands on the already used napkin. "You've inspired me, Gilmore. If you can come to Pairs, I can walk across a road. I'm going to find out where she got those boots from."

Faye and Rory watched Gina streak up the road to the crossing and walk purposefully across the road, her 5-inch heeled black pumps clicking with every step.

"Do you ever wonder how she gets into her clothes in the morning?" Faye asked, a tinge of envy in her voice.

"Its spray paint," Rory suggested, taking in the tight black jeans and black t-shirt. The only thing not black was the lilac and yellow Pucci scarf that fluttered around her neck and tied the outfit all together. Gina's long wavy hair (dark brown with just a tiny of mahogany) fluttered in the wind and for a split second, Rory saw who Lorelai could have been if given the chance, if only there was no Christopher, no Rory. She tried to throw the thought from her mind and concentrated on her friends' tight clothes. "Or maybe she's naked and we're both just pretending there are clothes there."

"That must be it, Rory," Faye said softly. Rory could sense Faye looking at her and she looked into her eyes. "I see it too."

They could both see the Lorelai who could've been.

-

"I think I'm doing this all wrong," Rory whispered into the phone.

"Why? And why are you whispering, Ace?" Logan whispered back with a laugh. (How very cute she was).

"I don't know," Rory admitted. She rose her voice to its normal level. "I guess I'm not used to being back at work yet. I don't think that personal calls are really accepted."

"Ace, come on. You work in a place that prides itself on having the fullest social life it could possibly have yet still putting out the most popular magazine in the world. Honestly, I'm amazed that the ladies you work with deign to show up to work. Work always comes last. If work coincides with a Chanel sale, they will take the Chanel sale every time. Right now, I guarantee that you are not the only person on a personal call so don't worry. Besides, you're the deputy editor. You can basically do what you want. You can do nothing and still take the credit for it. I know you. You can do this stuff with your eyes closed and in your sleep so you can take five minutes to talk to your husband who is currently a million miles away and missing his wife a lot," Logan said. He took in a deep breath and Rory could practically hear him smile. "How did you like that?"

"It was a good rant," she agreed, matching his smile. "I miss you."

"I should hope so," he replied. "So, what are you doing all wrong?"

"I'm looking for the wrong person," she explained. "I've been looking for Lorelai in all the wrong places. She moved to Paris because she wanted to be a different person. She wanted to be Lorelai Hayden, the person she should have been, not Lorelai Gilmore, the person she was forced to be by circumstance. If it wasn't for me, my parents would've gotten married sooner. Doesn't that just seem ironic to you? The one thing that should have bought them together tore them apart because my mother would just not be the person she was fated to become."

"I get what you're saying, Ace, but if Lorelai isn't Lorelai anymore then where are you going to look?" he asked softly. "You don't know what Lorelai is like. You only know what your mother is like. Can she have changed that much?"

"My mother never missed a thing I did. Lorelai has never even acknowledged my existence," Rory hissed. "Logan, I don't even know what I'm doing here anymore. I hate her."

"No, Rory, you're just mad at her. You love your mum. She's your best friend," Logan said. "It's just that right now, you're a little bit confused and a little bit mad and that is completely understandable."

"You're only saying that because you've had a lifetime of hating your parents. Your parents didn't abandon you, Logan, because they were never there. They didn't leave you for their new families because they knew without each other, they had nothing and no-one. Did you ever see your dad run off with one of his women? No, because he is a better man than that. Lorelai used to be a better person. Wrong, she used to be a person. Now she has no feelings for anybody but herself and my father. Your dad never had feelings for anybody but himself so you can't understand this, Logan. You just can't," Rory cried. There was a long silence punctuated only by Logan's heavy, seething breathing. Rory closed her eyes and let her head fall onto the desk with a loud bang. "I'm so sorry, Logan. I wasn't thinking."

(She was right. She was so right and they always said, the truth hurts).

"No, Rory, you weren't thinking at all but you know what? Its fine," he hissed through clenched teeth. "I can deal with anything you have to say but just so you know, you're turning into a different person too. You say you hate her, that you don't care what happened to her and yet you're still over there and I'm still over here. You could get a transfer in three minutes flat and yet you haven't. It's fine. Hate your mother, hate the person she isn't, the person she hasn't become but don't ever take out your hate on my family. Don't ever make me feel worthless because my father didn't love me."

"Logan, I'm…"

"Save it, Ace. I've had about enough of this. Your mother, she runs our life now. It used to be about you and me and I get that things have changed, I get that I can't be number one now but I want to be number one again soon. I should be. I love you more than anyone ever could. I never abandoned you. I never did anything but support you. I think I deserve a little bit better from you. At the very least, I deserve a phone call from my wife where her mother isn't mentioned," he retorted. He sighed and slammed his fist down on the desk. "Damnit, Ace! I just want you to come home. It's been nearly four months and nothing. Why cant you just give up?"

(Give up and come home to him. That was all he wanted from her).

"Would you give up if it was me?" she asked, swallowing. (Please, say no. Say things haven't changed that much).

"Not unless it was the end of my days," he replied. (Corny but true).

"I just cant give up. I wouldn't be the woman you loved if I did. Rory Gilmore, Rory Hayden, Rory Huntzberger, Lorelai, the third. Whatever you want to call me, she doesn't give up. When I do something, I put my all into it. This means more to me than anything I've ever done before," she said quietly. She heard him sigh and she knew he understood. Before he could open his mouth, she said it. "Don't go there, Huntzberger. You know I didn't mean it like that."

(He meant more to her than anyone. If she was honest to herself, maybe even more than her mum).

-

Rory sighed as she pushed her back into the cushions to get comfortable. She stared into the dark liquid that floated in her mug and sighed. She wished things were different with Logan. She knew he understood. She knew he was being the nicest, most generous guy in the world and she knew that it was so hard for him but she wished he would just stop. Stop making her feel like the worst person in the world, stop making her feel like she had abandoned him like Lorelai had abandoned her, stop making her feel like he loved her more than anyone else in the world (that was the worst bit). Because he loved her, she knew was doing the wrong thing by being in Paris, by being away from him.

It had been so hard at first. Her insides ached for him. They missed him and she missed him. Her skin wanted to be touched by him, her hair to be brushed by him and her lips to be kissed by him. She wanted him so bad and he needed her so why oh why oh why couldn't she leave? Why couldn't she go home?

(Why couldn't she let her mother go?)

The phone rang and she instinctively knew it was him. They had a process. She would call in the morning, he would call at lunchtime and they would fight then he would call at night to make sure they were okay, to tell her he loved her and goodnight and then they would wake up and do it all again.

(Is this how it was going to be now?)


	7. The Flower Lady

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Hey all. I hope you all had Happy Holidays and got everything you wanted. Part of this chapter is in French. I don't speak French at all so I used a translator. Hopefully it is correct. The English is right next to it in italics. Sorry for the lack of updates. Work was crazy right up until Christmas and it still will be for a few weeks what with the sales and people returning gifts. I had three days off in three weeks plus we moved at the same time. I do not recommend moving the week before Christmas. Happy reading! Gen. xx

**A/N2:** I have decided that Rory isn't going to work for L'Oreal anymore because that was just dumb. She's going to work for a fictional magazine because then I can create my own rules and people. Lol. I just realised how close to Lorelai that L'Oreal is.

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Eight:** The Flower Lady

* * *

"I have a little sister," Rory blurted into the phone.

"You have a what?" Logan asked.

"I have a little sister. Or a little brother. I'm not quite sure but I think that the blankets in the pram were pink and I know my mum likes to do things differently but I'm pretty sure she would subject a little boy to pink blankets and a lacy headband plus I'm pretty sure Dad wouldn't let her," Rory said in one breath.

"Hang on. You found your mum?" Logan asked, slowly making sense of it all.

"Yes."

"And you have a baby brother or sister?" he asked.

"Yes."

"How? I mean, where? Where did you find her?"

"We've been trying out different cafes in the morning to see where we fit the best and we were at this one today and Faye looks across the street and practically drops her coffee and she tells me to look and then I look and I see my mother pushing one of those old-fashioned prams that I think are called perambulators and there's a baby in it and she was holding a little girl, whom I assume is Gigi, by the hand and they are walking and there were all these people stopping them on the street and kissing Mum on the cheek and hugging Gigi and cooing at the baby. It was… weird," Rory explained.

"Did you talk to her?" Logan asked. (How he wanted her to say yes so she could come home. _Come home._ The words meant nothing now. No longer prayers and pleas, just words that fell on deaf ears).

"No," Rory admitted. "I was going to but then I just couldn't. Lorelai and Chris came here for a reason. Maybe they don't want to be found."

"Rory, three months ago I would've said you were right but you've been there looking for them for so long that you deserve to see them," Logan interrupted. "I don't know if it's going to help or if it's going to make it worse but I still think you should say something the next time you see her."

"Okay," Rory said. "I guess I will."

-

"Rory, look over there," Faye said. She motioned gently with her head and Rory's eyes followed the line. Rory had had a hunch that Lorelai took the same route every morning while presumably walking Gigi to school so she had called the girls and asked them to meet her at the same café the next morning. Gina, as per usual, was running late, but Faye and Rory had been exchanging useless gossip and drinking lattes while casually looking around for Lorelai.

"What did I miss?" Gina asked, dropping her Kelly bag (a gift from an ex-lover) on the seat before plopping into the only empty chair. Faye quickly shushed her and motioned over to Lorelai. Rory stood up and breathed heavily in. She took a step and then froze. She stood and watched her mother walk closer and closer with Gigi in tow. There was no baby today but Lorelai didn't look any less happy. Faye reached over and gently pried Rory's hands off the back of the wrought iron chair. (She hadn't even realised she was holding it).

"Sweetie, it's okay. You don't have to go over today. We will come back every day until you decide to do it," Faye said sweetly. Gina nodded and then pretended to feign an interest in the menu. Faye held Rory's gaze and then followed Gina's cue and suddenly became fascinated with her pastry. (Rory hated to be watched).

"She's gone," Gina said softly. She and Faye then lifted their heads and watched as Rory strolled purposefully to the curb. She looked both ways and then, inhaling deeply as her foot lifted off the curb and hit the road, crossed the road quickly. She made her way to the lady who sold the flowers and busied herself looking at the flowers.

Lorelai approached and slowed down. Rory heard the cheery 'bonjour' and heard the kisses on the cheek. She slowly turned around and took a step away from the flowers so she was standing ahead but to the left of her mother. Gigi bounced up to Rory and greeted her.

"Bonjour, madam," she grinned. (Rory's heart nearly gave out).

"Bonjour," Rory replied. Her step-sister didn't recognize her. That meant there were no pictures of her anywhere.

"Gigi, don't bother the lady," Lorelai called out in English. She was looking through her handbag as she apologised to Rory. "Je suis désolé. Elle ne sait pas pour ne pas tracasser des personnes encore. Et juste vous essayez de lui dire de ne pas parler aux étrangers." (_I'm sorry. She doesn't know not to bother people yet. And just you try to tell her not to talk to strangers)._

"Mais je ne suis pas un étranger, maman," Rory replied. She clenched her teeth and focused her eyes on her mother. _(But I'm not a stranger, Mum)._

"Lorelai, why did she just called you Maman?" Gigi asked in accented English.

"It's call," Lorelai corrected as her eyes traveled from her handbag to Rory. "'Why did she just call me Maman.'"

"That's what I'm asking you," Gigi sighed, gregariously. "Lorelai, am I going to be late for school?"

"Non, cheri. You wont be late," Lorelai answered. "Why don't you go and talk to Claudette for a moment? I can see her up there with Charles. I just have to talk to the nice lady. I'll see you in a minute."

"Okay, Lor," Gigi said, beckoning Lorelai down to her level. She licked Lorelai across the cheek then ran off towards her friend and her friend's pet dog, giggling.

"Rory, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked. (Rory's heart fell. Fell on the cobblestone path and broke).

"I came to look for you," she offered with a shrug. "Je me suis ennuyé de vous. J'ai voulu vous trouver. J'ai voulu savoir pourquoi vous êtes parti." (_I missed you. I wanted to find you. I wanted to know why you left.)_

"Speak in English. Margot understands French not English," Lorelai said.

"Right. Because you don't want the flower lady to know that you abandoned your only daughter and left her alone in another country," Rory snapped. (Enough was enough). "C'est exact. Elle m'a laissé. Elle m'a abandonné. Maintenant vous savez que Mme Lorelai n'est pas aussi parfaite. Elle s'inquiète davantage de ce que vous, la dame de fleur elle passe à chaque matin, pense à elle puis ce que sa seulement fille pense. Mais attente, vous ne savez pas que j'existe. Vous pensez qu'elle a deux filles. Bien, elle doesnt. Elle a trois et l'un d'entre eux est moi. Tellement maintenant vous savez. Que pensez-vous au ce, maman?" _(That's right. She left me. She abandoned me. Now you know Madam Lorelai isn't so perfect. She cares more about what you, the flower lady she passes every morning, thinks about her then what her only daughter thinks. But wait, you don't know I exist. You think she has two daughters. Well, she doesn't. She has three and one of them is me. So now you know. What do you think of that, Mum?)_

"I can just tell her you're crazy," Lorelai shrugged. Rory was furious and the only thing that stopped her from completely letting loose at her mother was the sheen of tears that covered her mother's eyes.

"I speak French too. I'll just tell her I'm not," Rory said. (She had one last chance to get out of this with some dignity. Just a little. That was all she needed). "Look, I work at 'Pour Les Femmes'. I'm the deputy editor there. If you decide you want to get in contact with me, I'll take your call even though I shouldn't. You don't deserve that. You don't deserve me coming here or tracking you down but I did it anyway. If you don't get into contact with me, I'll understand but I thought that unlike you did to me, I'd give you the chance."

She leant closer to her mother and kissed her once on both cheeks and hugged her mother briefly.

"Rory…" Lorelai said, before trailing off.

"Au revoir, maman. Je t'aime." _(Good bye, Mum. I love you)._

She calmly smiled at her mother and then turned on her heel and walked slowly (as if wading through jelly or oatmeal) back towards the curb. She looked both ways again and crossed. She didn't turn around to see if Lorelai was watching her go. (She didn't know if she could take it either way). When she reached the café, picked up her bag and let Faye and Gina escort her quickly away.

"You're a better person than she is," Gina whispered. (For Gina to say it, meant something).

"I don't feel much better," Rory admitted, with a slight whimper. "I said some awful things."

(Even if it was all true).


	8. In My Mother's Den

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Hey all. Man. Writing nasty Lorelai is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Happy reading! Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Eight:** In My Mother's Den

* * *

Rory took in a deep breath and tightened her trench coat around her small frame. She moved foot-to-foot for a few moments, brushed her sweaty forehead with the back of her gloved hand and inhaled yet again before slowly raising her arm and pressing the doorbell. She held it for what was only a few seconds but for what seemed like an eternity. The ring reverberated around her and just as quickly as she touched the button, she wrenched her hand away.

The door opened quickly and her mother answered it with a big smile on her face.

"Anne-So…" she started. She saw Rory and her voice trailed off and her smile was replaced with something a little smaller, a little less bright. "Rory, you came."

(Was that disappointment on her face?)

"You asked me," Rory shrugged. The two stood in an awkward silence.

"Lor, who is it?" she heard Christopher's voice ask from a room behind a white set of stairs.

"I guess you'd better come in," Lorelai said softly. She moved out of the way to let Rory pass. Rory stepped in and waited politely for her mother to instruct her to remove her coat (possibly her shoes) and take her for a tour, or simply into another room. Lorelai closed the door behind her and leant on it, her hands still clutching the doorknob as if Rory would make an excuse to leave any second now (and how she wanted too).

"Lor!" Christopher called again. He stuck his head around the corner and a big grin spread across his face. He walked around the corner and wiped his hands on his pristine white apron before holding out his arms to Rory. She gladly walked into them, her smile not quite matching his, but getting there. "Rory. It is so good to see you."

"You too, Dad," she answered bravely. He squeezed her and then let go.

"Come in, come in," he beckoned. "Take your coat off, sweetie. Put it on one of the hooks there."

She obliged and followed her father into the kitchen. It was a wide spacious room with lots of bench space and barstools. A hanging rack from the roof housed what seemed like a million pots, pans and cooking utensils.

"I'm making roast lamb," he told her proudly.

"Wow, Dad, that's great," she told him, for lack of anything else to say.

"Can I get you anything?" Lorelai asked, switching into hostess mode. "Coffee, soda, water? Glass of wine?"

"A glass of water would be great, thanks," she replied. Lorelai smiled quickly and quickly set about making her daughter a glass of water. (Not just any water. Cucumber water).

"Lorelai, Chris!" a French-accented voice rang out. "We're here."

"Anne-Sophie," Lorelai beamed. She walked over to a small blonde woman dressed in a mink and hugged her before kissing her cheeks. She did the same to a short muscular man with brown hair. "Patrick. I'm so happy to see you."

"Who is this stunning creature?" Anne-Sophie asked after greeting Christopher.

"This is our daughter, Rory," Christopher explained proudly. "She's here in France for work so we thought we'd have her over for dinner."

"She is beautiful. She looks just like you two," Anne said. "Patrick, doesn't she look like them?"

(And let the insincerity begin).

-

"Lorelai, you've hardly said a word to the girl all night," Anne-Sophie said as she powdered her nose.

"I know. I haven't seen her in a long time. It's weird," she explained.

"It's not that at all. you don't want to see her. you don't want her here. We can all tell."

-

"Rory, these are your sisters. Gigi, you already know but this is Alexia. We call her Lexie," Christopher said. He handed the soft bundle to Rory and she cradled her gently in her arms.

"She's beautiful," Rory sighed.

(And she was).

-

"I cannot tell you how glad I am to meet you," Anne-Sophie trilled, pouring Rory another glass of wine. "When your parents first moved here all they could talk about was 'Rory this, Rory that, our daughter this, our daughter that.' I thought 'now, here is a family that loves each other' so it surprised me when you didn't visit sooner."

The three elder Hayden's froze and out of the corner of her eye, Rory saw Lorelai and Christopher exchange a glance. Lorelai opened her mouth to speak but Rory cut in before she could.

"Yes, well, it was out of my control," Rory replied, leaning forward.

"How long are you here for? Your mother mentioned that you had a position here with a magazine," Patrick asked.

"I'm the deputy editor of 'Pour Les Femmes,'" she explained. "My contract is for another year and a half but I can go back to the States at anytime."

"I love that magazine," Anne-Sophie cooed. "Lorelai, darling, why didn't you tell me that your daughter was the editor of my favourite magazine? Rory, did you know that your mother has been subscribed to the magazine for five years?"

"I didn't know that," she said.

"Don't you have access to the subscription lists? Oh, I'm sure you have access to many things. Any gossip you can share with us?" Anne continued. (Sure, Anne-Sophie. Just not the kind you expect).

"I haven't done my rotation in subscriptions yet," Rory admitted. "And as for gossip, I assume you mean news of the fashion kind. Chanel is having their annual sale next Tuesday. I can get you passes if you give me an address."

"Lorelai, Christopher, I like her," Anna-Sophie cried. "I don't know why it's taken you so long to have her over."

"Like I said, things have been out of my control," Rory shrugged. She made a big show of looking at her watch. "Anyway, it's getting late and I promised I'd call my husband before he went to bed."

"Of course. We shouldn't keep you," Christopher said. He stood up and pulled Rory into a warm hug. "It was good to see you, kiddo."

"You too, Daddy," she smiled. (Daddy? Where had Daddy come from?) She pecked him on the cheek and waved at Anne-Sophie and Patrick. "It was great to meet you. Maybe I'll see you at the Chanel sale, Anne-Sophie?"

"Of course. Here, just let me write down my address and a phone number. Your daughter is a gem," she trilled.

"We know," Christopher smiled proudly. Lorelai stood up and wiped her palms on her black pants. "Isn't she a great kid, Lor?"

"The greatest," Lorelai replied with a fixed smile on her face. "I'll walk you out, hon."

"Oh, its fine. You stay here. I remember the way," Rory replied, shaking her head. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to say goodbye to Gigi and Lexie."

"I don't know. Their probably asleep by now. I don't really want to wake Gigi. She'll be grumpy in the morning," Lorelai argued. (Why was she being so cagey?)

"It's okay. I won't wake them. I just want to see them," she said. "Who knows when I'll ever see them again?"

"Goodness, child. You're making it sound like you'll never see them again," Patrick piped-up.

"Maybe I won't," Rory said bravely. "I haven't seen my parents in three years because my mother didn't want to see me so it seems likely I won't see my sisters for just as long."

"Lorelai, what is she talking about?" Anne-Sophie asked.

"Rory, why would you bring that up?" Lorelai asked. "I invited you to come over here. Isn't that enough?"

"Enough would be telling me why you left me in the first place," Rory shot-back. "I don't care if I never see you again. I don't. There was a time when that would have killed me but you have made it perfectly clear that I am not welcome in your perfect new Parisian life and I'm okay with that now. I just want to know why. That's all. Why, Mum, why?"

"Maybe we should go," Patrick said, hustling Anne-Sophie up.

"No, there's no need for you to leave. Stay," Lorelai said. "Chris, why don't you take Anne and Patrick into the kitchen for coffee?"

(Did she want the families dirty laundry aired in public?)

The three adults quickly made their way out of the lounge room and back into the kitchen. Rory and Lorelai looked at each other.

"I'll just get your coat," Lorelai said, walking out of the room and into the hallway.

"I'll follow you," Rory said, rolling her eyes. She watched her mother remove her coat from the hook and hand it to her.

"Rory, why would you bring that up in front of them?" Lorelai asked after Rory had done her coat up.

"You have changed, Lorelai. I just want everybody to know. The Lorelai you are here isn't the Lorelai you used to be. The real Lorelai."

"How do you know this isn't the real Lorelai?" Lorelai half-yelled.

"Because the real Lorelai would never treat her daughter like a stranger! The real Lorelai wouldn't make her daughter feel unwelcome in her house. You have barely looked at me all night. What is with that?" Rory screamed. She inhaled and looked at her mother. "No, actually, I'm wrong. This is the real you. The French mother of two is you. You couldn't be you when you were at home with me because secretly, you have always blamed me."

"Blamed you for what?" Lorelai asked drolly.

"Blamed me for ruining your life. You could have had everything you have now if it wasn't for me. you would have married Dad and had two gorgeous little girls. You would have had money and jewels and a beautiful house. You wouldn't have been a struggling single mother who had to work hard and beg and steal off everyone for the money to send me to school and to college. You blame me for being born. you blame me for not having the life you really wanted to have and I'm sorry but I can't change that for you. I can't go back into the past and be unborn and I can't change that for you but I can tell you this. you chose to have me and you chose not to marry Dad. The three of us could have been a family but you chose otherwise so stop blaming me and start taking responsibility for your own actions because I am sick of this," Rory hissed. She was breathing heavily and she clutched onto the arm of a plush chair for support. (Had she really just said that? How long she had waited and now she had finally said it). "I deserve better than this, Lorelai."

"Rory, I don't deserve that from you. I gave you everything you ever wanted. Everything," Lorelai said.

"And you took it away from me too," Rory said simply.

"What do you want me to say?" Lorelai asked.

"I want you to admit it. I want you to admit that you blame me for ruining your life and that you never want to see me again," Rory said.

"Fine. I admit it. I do blame you for ruining my life. There. I've said it. Are you happy now?" Lorelai blurted out. Rory's face fell momentarily but then she nodded and even managed a small smile.

"Thank you, Lorelai. That's all I needed to hear," she said. (It hurt less than she'd imagined it would). "Now, I'm just going to run up and kiss the girls then I think I'll go. Say good-bye to Dad for me."

"Rory, wait," Lorelai tried as Rory moved to walk up the stairs. Rory paused and turned to her. "You called me Lorelai."

"Mothers don't abandon their kids," she explained. "Lorelai's obviously do."

She continued her walk up the stairs and made her way into a large room. She walked over to the cot and stared down at her youngest sister.

"You are beautiful, Lexie," she whispered, picking the infant up and holding her close. "I hope she doesn't do the same thing to you. You can always come to me if you need too. I guess you won't know I exist but that's okay. I know you're here. I'll look after you somehow. I promise. Stay beautiful, baby girl."

She kissed Alexia on the forehead and then gently placed her back in the cot. She fixed up her blankets and watched her little chest heaving for a moment before leaving the room and making her way into Gigi's room where she found her sitting up in bed.

"Hello Rory," the little girl said.

"Hey G," Rory answered. She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled. "I just thought I'd come and say goodnight."

"I heard you and Lorelai fighting," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear that," Rory comforted her.

"Are you two going to be okay?" Gigi asked.

"I don't know. I think so," Rory replied. She kissed Gigi on the cheek and smoothed back her hair. "I'm so glad I got to see you tonight. You're getting so big."

"Will I see you soon?"

"I don't think so but if you ever want to, I'd be happy to see you," Rory said. "Anyway, I'm getting sleepy so I should probably go. take care of your little sister for me, okay? And for your dad. He's a good guy."

"I like him," Georgia replied.

"Well, that's a good thing. Bonne nuit, Gigi," she said.

"Good-night, Rory," Gigi replied. "Do you know what Lorelai taught me to do?"

"What did Lorelai teach you to do?" Rory asked.

"The continental kiss," she said. She kissed Rory on both cheeks and giggled. "She said that the French always say hello and goodbye like that."

"It's true," Rory answered. She kissed her little half-sister on both cheeks and then stood up. "I'll see you around."

She walked back down the stairs and found Lorelai sitting on the bottom step.

"You wanted to make sure I left?" Rory asked.

"I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed that life. I might not have wanted it but I enjoyed living life with you and I loved you. None of that was fake. I didn't want you to leave thinking I don't love you. I do love you but I would have felt so guilty having this new family if you had been around all the time. I didn't want you to feel like you were second best or like I was fitting you in because I had too so I guess I took the cowards way out and just decided to remove you completely. Okay, that's kind of a lie. I didn't want to share this with anyone. I wanted this to be mine and Christopher's. No-one else's. I have had a lifetime of sharing you with other people but I wanted him and the girls to be all mine. Do you understand that?" Lorelai asked.

"Not really," Rory admitted. "But thank you, just the same."

"Come here," Lorelai said. She opened her arms and Rory walked into them. They held each other tight for a moment. "I assume you're going to go home now."

"I'm thinking about it," Rory shrugged. (She couldn't wait to go home).

"Tell Logan I said hi," Lorelai said. "But please don't tell anyone where we are. Just tell them that we're okay and that we're happy. Will you do that for me?"

"Of course."

"Good-bye, Rory," Lorelai said, kissing one cheek and then the other.

"Good-bye, Mum."

(And it was done).


	9. The Father Speaks

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Hey all. Sorry it's been so long. Many stresses and I just never seem to get the time to write anything but short snippets. Sorry!! Also, you may note the use of 'seriously' in the chapter. I said that long before Grey's Anatomy did so ha! Happy reading! Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Nine:** The Father Speaks

_"It is, I think, that we are all so alone in what lies deepest in our souls, so unable to find the words, and perhaps the courage to speak with unlocked hearts, that we don't know at all that it is the same with others."_

_**Sheldon VanAuken.** A Severe Mercy.

* * *

_

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!!" Rory screamed as she launched herself into Logan's arms. He picked her up and swung her around and around and around and around until she squealed. He stopped swinging but refused to put her down, not that she was complaining. Her lips were all over his face, his neck, his face again but she had yet to kiss his lips and he was desperate. (Lips, hands and Logan all over).

"I'm going to put you down if you don't kiss me right now," he whispered huskily. She laughed and buried her head into his hair. She pulled away and kissed him quickly.

"That good enough?" she giggled.

"Nope. I'm putting you down now," he said. He gently dropped her to the ground and she grinned up at him.

"I am so glad you're here," she told him. She moved to stand next to him and laced her arm around him, dropping her head onto his shoulder.

"I'm pretty glad to be here too," he replied.

"Shall we get your stuff? I can't wait for you to see the apartment. It is beautiful," she said. "And then I want to take you to my favourite restaurant and my favourite café and all the places I like to go. I want you to see all my favourite places and meet everybody. It's going to be so much fun."

"I just can't wait to get you back to the States," he said. They walked over to a man who was pushing a cart full of luggage. He began to walk and Logan and Rory followed him out of the terminal and into the back of a shiny black limousine. (Living a life of privilege and luxury wasn't exactly hard work).

"About that," Rory started.

"About what?" Logan asked, settling in next to her. She smiled softly as he pulled her down and gently forced her head onto his shoulder.

"Going back to the States," she said, sort of uneasily.

"Rory, no," he automatically said.

"'Rory, no,' what?" she asked.

"Rory, no, you can't stay in Paris for any longer. I want you to come home. I need you to come home. I need to be with you. I miss you and I'm not even ashamed to say it. Besides, it's unnatural for a wife to be away from her husband especially when a mans wife is as irresistible as you and lets not forget, I'm irresistible too."

"Logan, I wasn't going to say I didn't want to come home," Rory said, a smile in her voice. "I was going to say I can't wait to get home and I thought that maybe we might like to try for a baby when we get home."

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Seriously," she replied. "We've been married for just over three years. It just seems like time. I'm twenty-five. I'm not getting any younger."

"Seriously?" he asked again. "A baby?"

"What do you think?" she asked, bouncing like an excited child. (Please say yes, she begged. Please say yes).

"I think that my Mrs. gets what she wants and if you want a baby, a baby you will have," he replied.

"Really?" she asked, her face beaming.

"Really," he replied. He leant down and kissed her. "How far away is home?"

"Why? Do you need to pee?" she asked.

"No, I was just wondering if it was far enough away to start for that kid now," he replied.

"I think it's just far enough away," she answered.

-

"Come on, let's go!" Rory yelled. She was standing impatiently at the front door. "Logan! I want to go now. I'm hungry. Let's eat."

(And not just hungry for food but the other hunger was one she would never fully satiate).

"I don't understand why you don't just have food in the house," he yelled back grumpily.

"Because I don't cook. You know that," she shot-back.

"I can cook but," Logan sighed. He made his way out of the bedroom and lazily walked to the front door. He leant down and kissed her. "I cook really, really well."

"Hmm," she murmured. "I know."

"Are you sure you don't just want to go and get some food and I'll cook for you?" he asked.

"I'm one-hundred percent sure. I love this restaurant and you are going to love it too," she said. "Now come on. You said your Mrs. gets what she wants and I want food and I want food from this restaurant and I want it now so let's go!"

"But technically you aren't my Mrs. because you didn't take my last name," he complained. (Right, because technically vows and a marriage certificate meant nothing).

"Oh, didn't I?" she asked. She grabbed her wallet from her coat pocket and fished out her license and showed it to him. _Lorelai Leigh Huntzberger_, it proclaimed.

"How did you do that?" he asked. "And it's official? It's legal?"

"Yes and yes. I made some phone calls and signed a few things. Grandma helped me," she said. "Now get your coat because I'm hungry."

"Fine," he said. "Just let me get my coat."

Rory kissed him once more before he went into the bedroom to get his coat. She opened the door and stopped just millimeters from slamming into someone carrying a bundle.

"Dad," she exclaimed. He took a step back and offered her a nervous smile.

(What was he doing here?)

"I was going to knock but then I heard voices," he shrugged. "I didn't want to interrupt you if you had company."

"Logan's here," she explained. "I'm, um, going back to the States in a few weeks and he just came here to help me pack and to spend my last few weeks with me here."

"You're going home?" he asked. The bundle on his shoulder started to cry and Rory noticed it was Lexie. She took the baby from her father and patted her back. Quickly she settled down and sleepily yawned. Christopher waited patiently while Rory calmed his youngest daughter down. (She was a natural).

"I'm going home because I did everything I came here to do," she answered. She was aware of Logan's presence in the room behind her and was thankful he was keeping his distance.

"I was hoping you and I might get to spend a little time together before you went," he explained.

"Dad, I don't know if that is such a good idea," she answered honestly.

"But Rory, you're my daughter. I love you and I hate what we've done to you," he replied.

"Dad, it's been three years since you and Mum left and not once did either of you try to contact me, not once did either of you keep me updated or tell me where you were or anything. I had to find out I had another sister by coming all the way over here and searching for you in ever nook and cranny. I, Dad, have done all the work in this relationship and now I'm done. I'm over, I'm finished," she said. Chris looked crestfallen and it was all Rory could do to not break down in tears and pull her father into a hug and apologise but she was strong. "Dad, how long has it been since I came to dinner at your house and you haven't even contacted me since then? Forgive me if I'm a little wary at you turning up here now."

(Forgive me if I'm a little wary of you forever).

"Rory, I'm sorry but it hasn't been easy. Not seeing you, not contacting you, it hasn't been easy and it took guts. The only reason I haven't contacted you is because I was scared you wouldn't want to see me or you wouldn't want to hear from me," he said.

"Well, you're wrong. I did want to hear from you. I wanted to hear from you so badly but more than that, I wanted to hear from my mum. How do you think it made me feel, makes me feel knowing that I wasn't enough for you? That you had to move away because you didn't want me to taint your new family? How do you think it made me feel that you didn't want me to be a part of your lives anymore? Dad, seriously, did you ever think about me or did you only even think about yourselves? Because if you had thought about me for one second, you wouldn't be here right now. You would know that I had made my peace when I came to your house and that I had said goodbye to Lorelai. You would know that coming here today was a big mistake."

"Rory," he said. (The way he said her name, the way her father said her name, was enough to make her heart break. He was dying but she had been dead and honestly, she wanted him to suffer more than she wanted to make him better).

"No, Dad. It's not that I don't love you, it's that I don't want anything to do with you anymore. Either of you. I would love to stay in contact with my sisters because they are my family and they haven't hurt me but honestly, I don't want anything to do with you and Lorelai ever. I can't forgive this," she said. "You abandoned me."

"I didn't want too," he said.

"But you did, Dad, you did. You weren't strong enough to say no to Lorelai and you weren't brave enough to contact me and now you have to live with it. Be a man, Dad. Grow up. Do something for yourself for once," she said. She handed her sister back to her father. "Don't let Lorelai dominate you."

(He was a good guy, her father, but he made terrible choices).

"Rory?" Logan butted in. Rory sighed gratefully and leant against him. "Didn't we have reservations?"

"Yeah, we do. You remember my father, don't you?" she asked. Logan nodded curtly but he didn't offer Christopher his hand. "He was just leaving."

"You know where to find me," Christopher sighed, resignedly.

"I do," Rory replied. (No thanks to anybody else).

He offered her a watery smile and Rory could see the well of tears that had grown in his eyes. Her stomach stirred but she didn't move. Christopher came close and kissed her twice on each cheek.

"I love you, kid, and for what its worth, I'm sorry," he said. He turned away and walked down the hallway towards the ancient lift. He became aware of footsteps behind him and he turned around in hope but instead of his daughter, he found his son-in-law.

"You never fought for her," he said. "You just accepted everything but you never fought for her. Don't make that same mistake again."

"Why are you helping me?" Chris asked.

"Because I can tell you genuinely love her and your genuinely sorry and Rory loves you too and she's itching to forgive you. she wants to be a part of your life but pride just wont let her admit it," Logan explained. "I just want Rory to be happy."

"You really love her, don't you?" Christopher asked. "You aren't even discreet about it."

"Why would I be?" he asked. (How could you be?)

"You say this like you have experience," he said.

"I had to fight to get Rory to love me," he explained. "But I did it and now we are unbreakable. I think if you play your cards right, you can do it too."

"Thank you," Chris said. he opened the door of the lift. "Take care of her, Logan."

"Don't worry. I will," Logan said. "Better than anybody else could. Better than you did."

-

"What was that all about?" Rory asked when Logan returned.

"Just wanted a quick word, man-to-man," he explained. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"I was ready for dinner about an hour ago," Rory groaned. "You wanted to continue work on that baby."

"I cant help it. I'm a man obsessed," he joked. "And you are the object of my obsession."

"Hey, we have a lot in common. I'm the object of my obsession too," Rory grinned. She laced her arm around him and they began to walk towards the lift.

(She felt happy, complete).

-

"You know it took courage for your dad to show up today," Logan said, later then when they were home.

"I know it did."

"And believe me, I know from experience that it isn't easy coming to talk to you," he continued.

"Why don't you get to the point?" Rory asked.

"My point is that maybe you should give him a chance because its possible you feel the same way as him," he said. "That once you get past the anger and the hurt, you want to be a part of his life too."

"I guess you're right," Rory sighed.

(He knew her so well).


	10. Some Lighthearted Fun

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Hey all. I don't know how happy I am with this but it's an update at least. I haven't been into writing lately so I figure I just need to force myself to do it, to do something. And this is what I did. Happy reading! Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Ten:** Some Lighthearted Fun

* * *

The groaning and retching from the bathroom continued. The figure in the bed sighed and covered their ears, feeling guilty, but still at the same time, wanting a moment's peace after pacing between the bathroom and bed for the last three hours and seeing their loved one in so much agony and… vomit. The vomiting had begun at 5 am and had continued almost relentlessly since 5 am. Finally, concern overtook annoyance and exhaustion and the person rolled over and opened their eyes.

"Logan," a small voice called. Logan sighed and shifted his position, trying to get more comfortable. He opened his mouth to talk but couldn't bring himself to answer. He closed his eyes and inhaled, once, twice, thrice before letting his head fall against the hard tile with a smack. He heard small, delicate footsteps walking towards him and in seconds, Rory was bending down next to him, pushing his hair back from his sweaty brow. "Logan, are you sure you're alright? You've been vomiting for hours. I'm really worried about you. Maybe we should call a doctor."

"Rory, I already told you, I'm fine. I must have just eaten something funny. I definitely don't need a doctor. Really, really, really don't," Logan protested. Rory hid a smile at Logan's protestations. She knew he hated doctors, and had since he was a kid, but she still loved to tease him about. She was a little bit evil like that, teasing him when he was in pain. (He was just so vulnerable, so easy to break).

"Okay, no doctors then. How about some Pepto-Bismol?" she asked, pottering around the bathroom. She picked up the various objects that Logan had launched from the bathroom sink to the ground in frustration. (Always ready to attack).

"Ace, I'm not so sure Pepto-Bismol will do anything," he said.

"Logan, I have to do something. I know you don't want to but I really think we should see someone. Let me take you to the hospital. It could be serious. You might need to get your stomach pumped or something," Rory continued. Her face looked blank and she tried to keep her voice neutral but Logan knew she was fraught with concern. He saw the way she was moving around the bathroom, wringing her hands and chewing on her bottom lip unconsciously. He heaved himself up and moved so he was sitting with his back against the bathtub.

"Rory, come down here," he said, patting the ground next to him. She tightened her white waffle weave dressing gown around her and lowered herself onto the cool tiles. "See, I feel better already. I just ate something bad. I promise I'm okay. I'd know if something was wrong."

"People don't normally spend three hours throwing up," she disagreed. "Not unless they've been drinking tequila shots all night."

"It's just a bug," he replied with some force. He winced and rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't have talked so loud. But, Rory, it's okay. You don't need to worry."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that you're my husband and I love you so of course I freak out when anything happens to you," she explained. "And besides, you think this is freaking out? Don't you remember the time I hit my head when we were at that Rothberg party? I wasn't even unconscious but you drove me to the hospital and made them do every test under the sun and the only thing they could say was that I was going to have a major hangover in the morning."

"Which you did," he reminded her.

"Which I did," she replied seriously. She kissed him on the cheek and then recoiled with a small giggle. "Brush your teeth, mister. And if you're feeling better, come back to bed."

"Don't think I can move," Logan groaned. He quickly moved from his position and lunged for the toilet. He stuck his head in and threw up again. Rory looked on in fascinated disgust mixed with some more concern. "I feel empty."

"I can't believe there's anything left to be thrown up," she said, wrinkling in her nose. "I'll get you some water. Soon you'll be throwing up nothing."

"I feel empty," he groaned again after she'd left.

(But she made him feel full).

-

"We heard about your night cheating on Rory with the porcelain god," Gina smirked, as she cut into a piece of lamb.

"It was certainly an adventure," he answered her. He glanced at Rory and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for sharing that with everyone."

"My pleasure," she shot-back, wrinkling her nose.

"It was just food poisoning," Logan explained. "They don't cook food properly in this country."

"Humph," Faye grunted, raising an eyebrow. Logan immediately shot her an apologetic look and she smiled, letting him know she had been joking.

"Are you pregnant yet?" Gina asked, brash and unsubtle as ever. Faye almost spat out the sip of water she'd just taken, Logan dropped his fork but Rory just hid a small smile.

"You told them that too?" Logan gasped. He spoke through the side of his mouth as if it were meant to be an aside not heard by anyone else.

"Yes, I did," Rory whispered back, humouring him. She winked at Faye and grinned at Gina. "No, not pregnant yet. We're working on it but. Night and day, day and night."

"You are evil, Rory Hayden," Faye trilled. "Embarrassing your poor husband like that."

"Faye, I think you're talking to someone else. I don't know any Rory Hayden's," Rory said, glancing at her friend pointedly.

"Huntzberger, right," Faye said. She shrugged nonchalantly. "I forget sometimes. Sorry."

"It's okay," Rory replied. "Not that big a deal. I sometimes forget too."

"You do?" Logan asked. "I never forget its Rory Huntzberger. I'm a bit insulted. I mean, I wanted you to take my name for so long but I didn't realise you still weren't really into it."

"Okay, I think now is the time we stop airing all our dirty laundry. Of course I wanted to be Rory Huntzberger, it's just I'm so used to being Rory Hayden," she shrugged, indicating that the matter was over.

"I don't seem to remember it being a problem when you went to Hayden from Gilmore," Logan continued. He winked at Faye who smiled surreptitiously.

"Logan," Rory pleaded. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I don't know what I meant because I'm not sure what's going on but I'm sure I didn't mean it."

"Rory, I'm joking," he said. He let out a loud chortle and leant over and kissed her on the cheek.

"Wasn't funny," she grumbled, letting him kiss her. She looked over at Gina who looked confused and at Faye who was laughing. She glared at her supposed friend in mock anger. "You were in on it? Gee, how long did it take you two to buddy up? Maybe you two should get married instead."

(She could dish it but she couldn't take it).

-

"Wake up!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She stood impatiently at the side of the bed, tapping her high-heel boots against the wooden floorboards. "Logan, I mean it! Get up right now."

"Or what?" he mumbled.

"Or what?" she replied, aghast. "Or what? Or you'll be staying here all by yourself, alone, without me, without your beautiful wife not to mention you'll be missing out on the cheesy tourist sites of Paris."

"Rory, cant we just stay in bed?" he asked, transforming his voice into what he imagined a sex-god would sound like. He watched his wife who was dressed and had her hair perfectly coiffed. She rolled her eyes and folded her arms around her waist. She continued tapping her feet and he assumed he was supposed to take her silence as his answer. "Okay, I'll get up."

(Not that he wanted too. He wanted nothing more than to spend the day in bed with her).

"Good," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "I never thought that when we got married, you'd revert back to your sleep all-day, play all-night self."

"Need I remind you that you were playing last night too?" he asked on his way to the bathroom. "And if you weren't so intent on being so irresistible, I might get out of bed more."

"Need I remind you that I still got up at an acceptable hour," she shot-back as an adorable flush crept onto her cheeks.

"Since when has 5.45 am been an acceptable hour?" he queried. (Since when was he brave enough to ask stupid questions? He knew she worked best in the morning).

"I got up at 7," she replied, rolling her eyes. "It is now 9 and the lines are going to be huge so thanks."

"Rory, you do know that I have seen everything a tourist should see in Paris, don't you?" he asked. "I haven't seen you in months. I just want to spend time with you."

"You will be spending time with me," she sighed. "Please, can you hurry up? This is really important to me."

"Okay," he said. He pulled her close and kissed her passionately. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. She slapped him on the butt and prodded him towards the bathroom. "Now would you get ready please? We're going to be late."

"For what?"

"It's a surprise," she yelled. "Now go!"

-

"It's a park," Logan said, disappointment edging into his voice. "I got out of a nice warm, cozy bed that I eventually would've coaxed you into and you take me to a park?"

"This isn't just any park," Rory hissed. "This is the park that Diane Lane and Thelonious Bernard come to in 'A Little Romance.' That's the clock that they meet under and everything. Logan, this is one of the most romantic places in Paris."

"Really? Because it seems to be a courtyard with a fountain and a million pigeons," he said, with his patented, trademark grin on his face. Rory seethed beside him and shook her head. "I'm kidding, Ace. It's a nice place."

(He did mean it about the pigeons, though).

"Hey, I actually have something to tell you. Dad's going to bring Gigi here in a few minutes so we can spend the day with her," she said finally.

"Oh, now I see why you wanted to get me out of bed," he answered.

"Is it okay? I mean, it was a last minute thing. He only rang this morning and I was so excited so I just said yes without asking you first," she rambled. "If you don't want to do it, its okay. You can go off by yourself or I can tell him another day. I just thought it would be nice and I really want to have a relationship with her, you know?"

"Rory, its fine. It'll be fun. Sort of like practice for when we have our own kids," he shrugged. (How could he say no to her when he loved her so much?)

"Really? You're okay with it?" she asked, her face lighting up.

"Of course. She's your sister. You should know her," he said.

"You are the best," she said, throwing her arms around him. She kissed him again and smiled up at him.

(Funny. He thought the same about her).


	11. A Fine Line

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** This is rather cliché but I can only write clichés at the moment. I'm stuck in a rut. I know the story has been light-hearted and fun for awhile but there are still some serious issues to deal with so don't expect it to last. Happy reading! Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven:** A Fine Line

* * *

"Rory," Christopher called out as he and his very excited daughter approached the embracing couple. Rory gave Logan one last kiss on the cheek before wrenching herself out of his arms. Christopher looked at them and an overwhelming, crushing feeling of tenderness washed over him. They were very much in love. Time apart and distance between them couldn't stop them or break them apart. (But it had torn a family apart).

"Dad," Rory smiled. She let her father give her a hug and rewarded him with a kiss on both cheeks. She was anything but icy but he had a feeling she was thinking icy thoughts. She bent down to kiss Gigi and pulled her into a hug. "Hey, G. Are you ready to have some fun?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "Daddy said if I was good, you might buy me cotton candy and hot dogs and then we can go back to your house and have a movie night and eat our body-weight in candy but I said that wasn't fair cause I'd get to eat less candy than you and that man because I'm littler."

"Well, we don't have to eat our body-weight in candy," Rory explained, shooting her dad a bemused look. "We'll just eat a lot of it, okay?"

"Okay," Gigi replied, placated for the time being.

"So you have the number of the house if anything goes wrong and I've given you my mobile number. You shouldn't need it but it's there if you do," Chris started in with all the perfunctory and prerequisite mambo-jumbo that parents spewed out when leaving their kids with people who are barely more than strangers (and in this case, it was strangely true despite the fact three out of four were flesh and blood).

"Dad," Rory broke-in. "I know all of this. It's okay. You don't need to worry."

"I know. Sorry. I still get nervous when I drop her off at places. Your mother is much better at it," he said. Immediately, he stepped back and covered his mouth. The smile on Rory's face never faltered and she actually let out a little chuckle. She looked at Logan who, although stricken, managed to step in and take over.

"It's nice to see you again, Christopher," he said, holding his hand out for him to shake. "It's probably not the best timing but it's ultimately better than our first meeting."

"Our first meeting?" Christopher asked, glad for the spotlight to be off him and an awkward moment averted.

"The country club dressing room. Emily and Richard's vow renewal," he prompted.

"Oh, right," Chris exclaimed. "I wanted to punch your lights out."

"If I remember correctly, you wanted to punch anybody's lights out," Logan said, embarrassing Christopher inadvertently (or on purpose. Who really knew?)

"Rory, can we go yet?" Gigi piped up. All three adults were grateful for the interruption.

"Sure, sweetie. Just say goodbye to Daddy and then we'll go," Rory said.

"Bye, Daddy!" Gigi yelled. A little bit of spit flew from her mouth with the enthusiasm and landed on the ground near her father's foot. She tilted her cheek up for him to kiss it and she patted him on the back when he tried to hug her. "Daddy, hurry up and go."

"She's excited," Christopher explained with a shrug. "So I'll pick her up at your house at five?"

"Sure," Rory said after a quick eye conversation with Logan. "Logan, do you want to take Gigi to have a closer look at the fountain? I just have to ask Dad something quickly."

"Sure," he said. He took Gigi's hand and led her closer to the fountain after one last wave.

"What's up, kiddo?" he asked, watching her with anticipation.

"Um, Dad, where does Lorelai think she is?"

"I've taken care of it, Rory," Christopher said, his veneer cracking for just a moment. His face frosted over for a split second but then he became warm again. "I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for what… your mother and I did."

"Don't apologise for her," Rory said so quickly and so fiercely that Chris almost moved back a step. (Like she'd ever forgive her anyway).

"I just wish I could make you love me again," he sighed. (Because everyone wanted the love of one Rory Gilmore).

"You can't expect me to just welcome you back with open arms. I was never that big of a person. I do love you, Dad, but I love you because I have to, because you are my father and you gave me life. I don't love you because I want too. I hope that one day I will again but for now, you'll just have to make do with the hug and the kiss I give you when I see you and the hug and kiss I give you when you leave. Can you do that?" she said, proving that she actually was the bigger person.

"I'll take any love from you I can get," he said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close, hugging her to him so tightly she thought she would stop breathing. He kissed her roughly on the forehead and then let her go gently. He watched as she slowly turned away from him and walked towards her husband, the new love her life, and his daughter. He saw for a split second what their family would like in the future. An older daughter and a younger son, two happy smiling and in love parents determined to never screw up like their own parents had and he wished so hard that he would be a part of it, that he would be the grandfather welcoming his child and her family to France instead of catching moments with her before she left and went back home.

He left with a heavy heart. There was no hope left. He was kidding himself if he thought Rory would ever really forgive him.

(Lorelai had made sure of that).

-

"I thought we'd go and find that merry-go-round you always see in movies first. What do you think?" Rory asked when she finally made her way over to Logan and Gigi.

"I love merry-go-rounds," Gigi cheered.

"Of course you do," Logan muttered under his breath, eliciting a glare from Rory. He grinned at her and then placed a hand on Gigi's head. "I think you are going to be a lot like your sister."

"I hope so," Gigi said. She looked up at them seriously and opened her wide eyes even wider. "My daddy told me that Rory was the smartest girl in the world and the prettiest girl in the world and Lorelai said that she could do anything she wanted."

"I actually meant I thought you'd have the same taste in music," Logan joked. He looked over at Rory who had tears in her eyes and he offered her his hand and a small sympathetic smile.

"I bet you're really smart too, aren't you?" Rory asked. "And I know you're pretty. Maybe even prettier than me."

"I don't think so," Gigi sighed. "I hate my hair. It's too curly."

"G, you're only seven. You have a long time to hate your hair," Logan cut it. "And besides, I like it."

"Really?" she asked with a giggle.

"Really," he answered. He got down on one knee and gazed seriously into her eyes. "In fact, I think if I wasn't already married to your sister, I would ask you to marry me because of your hair."

"Just because of my hair?" Gigi asked, showing that she wasn't without her stepmother's famous wit.

"No way," Logan exclaimed. He winked at the young girl. "I can't go into all the reasons while Rory is here. She might get jealous."

"Me? Jealous?" Rory asked. She shook her head and laughed. "I wouldn't get jealous. You can have him, G. I'm getting a bit sick of him actually. His hair clogs the shower and he takes way too long in the bathroom plus he has more product in his hair than me. It's just not right for a husband to be prettier than his wife."

"Gee, thanks," Logan said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at Gigi. "I bet you're nicer than she is."

"Actually, I want to be the prettiest too," Gigi proclaimed.

"Of course you do," Logan answered. "You are a Hayden."

"Gigi, I think he just insulted us," Rory gasped. "Are we going to let him get away with it?"

"No!" she screamed. She moved closer to her sister and whispered conspiratorially. "What should we do?"

All the while, Logan was standing back from them, watching and laughing. He saw Rory grin wickedly and lean to whisper something to the girl she loved already. Gigi clapped her hands and giggled viciously. The two girls looked at each other and nodded before, exactly at the same time, lunging forward and running towards him. Logan turned and began to run thinking he was easily outrunning them until he felt two little hands reach around his waist before being tackled to the ground. Someone was trying, unsuccessfully, to tickle him through the thick clothes he was wearing, while the other person's hands were messing his hair.

Even through the laughter, Rory couldn't help but feel a little bit sad. Was she really willing to give this up, to give her sister up in exchange for a life without her mother? It was almost the choice she had to make. Have her mother and sister in her life or have no-one. Christopher may have been able to arrange one day that the two of them could be together but could they really keep it up their whole lives?

(She hoped so).

-

"I can't believe you two beanpoles managed to tackle me," Logan said, while brushing the dirt off his jacket. Rory and Gigi both stopped eating the huge piles of cotton candy he had bought for them and looked at him. "That says more about me than it does you."

"But we didn't tackle him, did we?" Rory asked. Gigi nodded seriously and innocently. "No, Logan, we hugged you but the passion was just overwhelming and we accidentally knocked you to the ground. Isn't that right, G?"

"If Rory said so, it's right," Gigi agreed. She rolled her eyes. "You are so silly, Logan."

He pinched a bit of cotton candy off the stick and rubbed it in her face until it dissolved into little crystals of sugar. She was laughing so hysterically, she almost slipped off the ancient park bench they were sitting on. Rory joined in the laughter and kissed Logan on the cheek.

"Honey, there's a fine line between hugs and tackles," she said awhile later. "And if you don't know it, I can't teach you."

"Is that right?" he asked. He lowered his voice and moved closer to her ear. "I'm sure if Gigi weren't here, you could show me."

She succeeded, just barely, in keeping the blush off her cheeks.

(He loved how he could still do that to her).


	12. Sleeping Like A Baby

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Sorry for the long delay. I didn't even realise how long it had been since I updated. I'm working a million hours a week and to tell the honest truth, the last thing I want to do when I get home is right. It doesn't help that I am having a huge block at the moment but I owe you guys something and once I start, I should get back into the groove. Happy reading! Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Creating Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Twelve:** Sleeping Like A Baby

* * *

Logan walked through the streets of Paris carrying seven year old Georgia Hayden in his arms. She was getting heavier by the minute and he hoped his wife's apartment was nearby. The geography of that part of Paris wasn't yet familiar to him yet and in a way, he hoped it never would be. He wanted to get his wife home quick smart and start a family with her but he had a feeling it would take quite a bit of cajoling and wheedling to get her to come. (His _wife's apartment._ Not _their_ Parisian apartment. His _wife's_ apartment. That still stung).

"Ace, is G asleep?" he whispered, not wanting to wake the exhausted child if indeed she was. Rory, looking quite exhausted herself, took a step back and checked out her sister's face. Her slow, soft smile showed him everything he needed to know.

"Sleeping like a baby," she confirmed. "Is she getting heavy?"

"A little," he admitted with a slight grimace. He shifted her ever so slightly and she murmured something in her sleep. "Are we nearly home?"

"It's about a five-minute walk. Are you going to be okay? I can carry her for awhile if you want," Rory suggested. Logan gave her a quizzical disbelieving look.

"Ace, she's almost your size. You won't last three steps," he said, even though he knew it wasn't true. She had started off carrying her sister but as she got sleepier, she got heavier and eventually Logan had had to step in. "I can't believe she's so heavy. She looks so little."

"That's a Hayden for you," Rory grinned. She smoothed Gigi's hair and without breaking her stride, she slipped her arm around Logan and leaned ever-so-softly into his side as they continued the walk home. "She looks so sweet when she sleeps. Can I really give up knowing her or being a part of my life?"

"I don't know," Logan said. "I don't think you'll ever have too."

(But can you give up me? he wondered Georgia or him. Is that what it would come too)?

As if reading his thoughts Rory nuzzled her head into his shoulder and spoke. "If it came to choosing, I'd pick you. It wouldn't make me any better than my parents but how could I give you up?"

(Thank God).

-

"Just put her on the couch," Rory ordered as she unlocked the door. She pushed the door open and he scooted in and walked straight over to the couch where he gently placed the small child. She stirred and Logan sat on the coffee table so he could softly talk to her. Rory was watching as he said nonsense words to her and smoothed her hair. She muttered something and then quietly slipped back into her deep sleep. The whole scene filled her heart with tenderness, hope and something else a little darker and a little more crushing. She felt despair at all the things she would miss out on but her hope for the future soon overweighed that. She knew that she was looking at what could very well be her future with Logan. She knew one day they would have a daughter or five and maybe a son and that Logan would dote on them just as much as he doted on her little sister. But how she wished she could be a bigger part of Gigi's life. Yes, she was going to be a mother one day and all the feelings she felt would be bigger and more intense but Rory so badly wanted to be a part of her sister's life.

"I think she's going to stay asleep," Logan said, finally looking up. He met Rory's eyes and saw her cerulean blue's filling with tears. Her lashes were wet but the water made her eyes darker, vibrant. He stood up and made his way over and scooped her up into his arms. She hadn't even closed the door yet but neither of them paid it any mind. "Rory, what's wrong?"

"I want to be a part of her life so badly," she sputtered. "I don't want her to grow up without me. I want to be there when she reads her first novel and eats a whole can of cool-whip. I want to know her and be able to call her up whenever I want. I want her to know me and when we have children, I want her to be an aunty. I even want my children to know their grandparents. I don't want to know my mother anymore but our children should have to miss out on having grandparents."

Logan took no offense. He knew his own parents were too selfish and too obsessed with work (in his fathers case) and appearances (in is mothers case) to care about their son let alone their grandsons and granddaughters.

"Ror, there is no reason why you can't be a part of her life," Logan comforted her.

"But what if Lorelai feeds her up full of evil hateful anti-Rory propaganda?" Rory asked. "For years I thought that The Clash was the best band in the world and that the only way to eat vegetables was on top of pizza. I love vegetables and while I don't hate The Clash there are many other brilliant bands but my point is that Lorelai can convince you of anything. What if she convinces Gigi to hate me? I don't know why or what I did but she has made it pretty clear she hates me."

"Your mother doesn't hate you," Logan hissed. "She is an idiot and I do not understand her motives one bit but she doesn't hate you. She gave birth to you and for more than twenty years, you were all she had. She doesn't hate you. She should be dying without you. And as for G, she's a smart girl. She's a lot like you, I can tell, and she will make up her own mind, okay?"

"Okay," Rory sniffled. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve and laughed slightly. "Sorry. I am such an idiot. I can't believe I'm crying like this."

(He hated that her mother still made her cry).

"You never have to apologise for crying," he told her. He looked up and saw Chris tentatively making his way up the stairs. "Hey Christopher."

"Hey Logan," Chris replied with a smile. He waited patiently at the door until Logan waved him in. Rory walked over to Gigi and softly shook her.

"Hey, baby," she whispered. "Daddy's come to take you home."

"I don't want to go home," she said grumpily. Chris walked over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Did you have fun, baby girl?" he asked. She nodded and yawned. "You have to come home now because Lorelai is waiting for you with a great big bubble bath."

(Something Lorelai never did for Rory. Funny that. They had always been so close but never had Lorelai run her daughter a bath).

"Can I at least come back another day?" she asked, sitting up and letting Rory help her into her cute little corduroy jacket.

"Sure, if it's okay with Rory and Logan," he agreed, looking at the two adults who both nodded eagerly. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go. Say thanks to Rory and Logan for having you."

"Thanks for having me!" she cried. The small group walked over to the door and Rory knelt down and opened her arms to the girl who eagerly hugged her big sister back.

"I hope you had fun," Rory said.

"I had the most funnest fun ever," she said with enthusiasm, albeit a little groggily.

"Next time you come over, we'll have a spa day, okay? And I'll paint your nails and we'll do your hair," Rory suggested.

"You can paint my nails too," Logan chimed in. Gigi rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue.

"Logan, boys don't get their nails painted," she huffed.

"Sorry," he said. He opened his arms and she gave him a hug. "It was good to see you, kiddo."

Christopher looked at his watch. "Come on, kitten. Let's go," he said. He smiled genuinely at his daughter and her husband. "Thanks for having her. Really. I can tell she enjoyed it."

"We enjoyed it too," Logan answered for his wife. She took a step backwards and he slipped his arms around her waist. Chris muttered one last goodbye and took Gigi by the hand. Rory and Logan stood and watched them go.

(They knew they'd see her again).

-

"Are you going to get that?" Logan murmured as the phone rang and rang and rang.

"Nope," she replied. She nuzzled further into her pillows. "Too tired. Machine will get it."

"It could be urgent," Logan retorted.

"If you care so much then you get it," she sighed. "Because I am not getting out of bed for anything."

"It's your house," Logan pointed out. Rory groaned and rolled away from him so close to the edge that she almost fell off. The phone stopped ringing and Rory waited for the answering machine to click in.

"Oh, crap," she said. "I thought it was taking forever. I forgot to plug it back in the other night."

"Which means if it's important, they'll keep ringing until you get out of bed," Logan reminded her. "What's more, why did you unplug it anyway?"

"I did it the other night so we could…sleep…without interruptions," she explained. They waited in silence for a while and then Rory yawned. "Logan, I don't think they're calling back. I'm going back to sleep. Feel free to pick it up if they do. Love you. Night."

"Night," he whispered. Rory rolled over onto her side and let Logan slip his arms around her. He kissed her hair and breathed in her flowery shampoo. (Oh, how he'd missed the smell of her hair. So much that he almost bought his own and washed his hair with it). She sighed contentedly as he pulled her closer to him and nestled his nose in her hair. It was so soft, so smooth, so silky. He heard her breathing getting heavier and more regular and he realised she was asleep. She had been exhausted and so was he.

(But they slept so much better when they were together).


	13. What Sisters Are For

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Wow. I never thought I would leave it this long to update. I can't apologise enough. Can you forgive me? I did promise I would finish this story, however, and I still intend on keeping that promise. I'll try and wrap it up as quickly as possible. There probably won't be more than a chapter or two. Thank you so much to everybody who reviewed and who asked for this to be updated. The continued reviews mean more to me than you could know. Anyway in other news, I was given a lesson in grammar by my younger sister (which is a little humiliating considering I'm meant to be the writer and she sucks at English) and it turns out I've been doing things all wrong. I was taught to always put the punctuation mark on the outside of the brackets but now I know you only do that if it's the end of part of a sentence. I probably won't fix it up in the other chapters but I will certainly be doing it correctly from now on. Anyway THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the reviews. I really hope this chapter was worth the wait. Love, Gen. xx

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen:** What Sisters Are For

* * *

Her sleep didn't last long and the phone did ring again. And it continued to ring and ring until after twenty minutes and missed call number seven, Rory marched over to the phone and snatched it up.

"Rory, thank God!" Christopher's voice came over the line. "I've been trying to get you for ages. I know it's late but I didn't know who else to ring. I need your help."

"Dad?" she asked, immediately on alert. "What's wrong? Is everything okay? Is Georgia okay?"

"We're on our way to the hospital. There was a small fire in Lexie's room. Faulty wiring in the lamp or something. She and your mum are suffering from smoke inhalation and your mum has some small burns on her face and hands but they're going to be fine. They have to stay for observation at least overnight though so I was wondering if Gigi could stay with you. It's not fair to keep her at the hospital," he said.

"Yeah, of course. Which hospital are you going to?" she asked. She listened as he explained. "Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thank you, Rory. You're the best daughter anyone could ask for," he said, his voice sincere.

"Don't mention it," she whispered. (Funny how she was only the best daughter when she was looking after her sister.)

* * *

"I'm looking for the Hayden's," Rory said in rapid French to the tired looking receptionist. "They were bought in about thirty minutes ago."

"What are the patient's names?" the lady asked.

"Lorelai and Alexia," Rory answered. "There was a little girl, Georgia, with them and my father."

"Wait here one moment and I will get Mr. Hayden for you," she replied. She stood up and left the desk, disappearing through a narrow archway.

"You okay?" Logan asked his shell-shocked wife.

"I thought I'd feel something other than concern for Gigi and Lexie but I don't," she replied sadly. "I thought I'd have whipped into some frenzy about Lorelai but I just feel numb."

(The name was still so foreign, so strange on her lips. 'Mum' was still worse though.)

"Maybe you'll feel a little differently when you've seen her," he suggested. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she ducked her head down to kiss it. She rested her cheek their briefly but a flash from the archway caught her eye.

"Dad!" she cried. She pulled herself away from Logan and flung herself into Christopher's arms. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I told you I was okay," he replied lightly as he squeezed her.

"Hearing you say it and seeing you are two totally different things. Where's Gigi?"

"Right through here. Come on," he urged.

He led them through the archway and down a hall into a small, dim room. Lorelai was lying on the bed with Georgia curled up beside her. An oxygen mask covered her face but Rory noticed a small grateful smile. Lexie was in one of the small clear cots that newborns are placed in. A nurse was holding a tiny oxygen mask over her face and murmuring to her in French.

"She's talking to her to keep her calm," Christopher explained. "It seems to be working."

"She's going to be okay, right?" Rory asked. "No permanent damage?"

She went to stroke the bare skin of Lexie's arm but paused. She looked at the nurse, who nodded, for permission before stroking the soft skin.

"The doctor's say she'll make a full recovery. Both of them," her father replied. He reached over and squeezed Lorelai's hand. "Thank God for that. I don't know what I'd do without them."

"Or I without you," Lorelai said, pulling the mask away from her face. She received a scowl from the nurse and she immediately dropped it back on.

"How long will they be in hospital?" Logan asked. He had moved to stand next to Rory who slipped her free hand into his.

"Hopefully just overnight," Christopher answered.

"We can take Gigi for as long as you need us too," Logan said. "It's no problem at all. Lorelai should take her time recovering."

"Thanks. That's very kind of you," Christopher replied for the two of them.

"I know how much Rory likes spending time with her family," he said, putting an emphasis on the word 'family.'

"We should probably get her home," Rory interrupted. She pressed her nails into Logan's palm. (This was not the time for Logan to avenge the wrongdoings done against her). "It's been a long night already. The sooner we get her settled, the better."

"Sure, sure," Christopher readily agreed. "Thank again, for this."

"It's what sisters are for," Rory replied. She nodded at Logan who went over to the bed and scooped Gigi off the bed. "Do you have clothes or anything for her?"

Christopher handed her a pink Barbie bag filled to the brim. Rory swung it onto her back and gave her Dad a kiss on the cheek.

"Call us tomorrow, okay?" she ordered him.

He nodded and went over to Logan. He smoothed Gigi's hair back off her face and kissed her on the forehead. She woke up and looked at Logan then back to her father.

"Logan and Rory are going to take you back to their house for the night, okay?" he explained.

"Is Lexie okay?" she asked peering about for her sister.

"Lexie is just fine. So is Lorelai," he answered. "I promise I'll look after them for you."

"Good cause I'll be sooo mad if you don't," she replied. She rested her head on Logan's shoulder and yawned. "I'm tired."

"Good night, G," Christopher whispered. He kissed her on the forehead again.

"Good night, baby," Lorelai called from the bed. She caught Rory's eyes. "Thank you."

Rory nodded at her but that was all she could manage.

* * *

Georgia was asleep on the temporary bed Rory had made up for her on the couch. The spare room has unfortunately been converted into an office.

"I'd feel much safer if she was in the spare room," Rory sighed. "It's closer to us."

"She'll be fine," Logan repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Maybe I should stay out here with her," Rory suggested. "Why don't I have a spare mattress? We could have put her on the floor in our room."

"You do realise she sleeps alone at home, don't you?" Logan reminded her. There was a slight edge to his voice now. He was exhausted and it was all he could do to keep his eyes open. But Rory gave him an apologetic look and felt his insides melt. "You can sleep in our bed with her if you want and I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, no," Rory answered quickly. "She's settled. She'll be fine out here, won't she?"

"I've been telling you this for the past forty-five minutes. She hasn't even flinched in that time," he said, gently this time.

"You're right. She'll be fine," Rory repeated to herself. She yawned and stood up. She held her hand out to Logan who gratefully took it. "Let's go to bed."

(Finally.)

* * *

Rory woke-up to an empty bed. It was still dark outside and she figured it to be about four in the morning. She pulled herself out of bed before padding down the hallway into the living room. Logan was on the recliner with Georgia in his lap. There was a blanket wrapped around them and they were both fast asleep.

"Logan," Rory whispered. "Logan."

"Wha- what?" he murmured back, not opening his eyes.

"Logan," she said her voice slightly louder.

"What, Rory?" he asked snapping an eye open.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I came out to check on Gigi and she was upset so I read her a story. I knew we shouldn't have left her out here alone," he replied.

Rory barely managed to suppress a smile.

"Right. Are you coming back to bed?" she asked already knowing what the answer would be.

"She's comfortable," he replied. "Besides, she might wake up again and one of us would just have to get out of bed again. You should go though. Get some sleep."

"I might just stay out here with you two for a little while," she decided. She lay down on the couch and pulled a blanket over herself. "Hey, this is a really comfy couch."

For awhile the only sound was that of Georgia's deep, even breathing.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Mmhmm," she murmured.

"I've been thinking..."

(Dangerous words.)

"And," she prompted.

"We don't have to rush moving back to America. In fact, we don't have to go back at all. You have your job at the magazine and I can work from home. We could have little French kids and give them names like Henri-Paul, Jean-Luc, Amelie or Cecile and they could go to the local école and say things like 'bonjour, mademoiselle,'" he suggested.

"Way to stereotype," she chuckled.

"You know what I mean."

"But what about your family? And Colin and Finn? And Grandma?" she asked.

"Emily loves it here. She can visit all the time. Maybe she could move here. As for my family I only really have Honor and she's so wrapped up in the kids and Josh that she probably wouldn't even notice we were gone. She says she misses you, by the way. And Colin and Finn never say no to a trip to France. It's one of Finn's goals to sleep with a girl in every arrondissement in Paris," he replied.

(He had an answer for everything, didn't he?)

"Do you mean it?" she asked.

"If it will make you happy then I mean it," he replied honestly. "I know how much you want to be a part of Gigi and Lexie's life. I want their nieces and nephews to have them in their lives too," he shrugged.

"You've really thought about this," she replied amazed.

"Easiest decision I've ever made," he answered.

"If you didn't have Georgia on your lap I would so suggest making babies right now," she murmured.

"Stop that talk right now," he demanded in order to stop a potentially mortifying and downright disturbing situation.

"Sorry, sorry," she grinned. "I love you, Logan."

"Love you too, Ace."

* * *

Christopher came the next afternoon to pick Gigi up. He was greeted at the door by his two daughters, both their hands covered in paint. He looked down and noticed most of the hardwood floor was covered in sheets and newspaper.

"We've been painting, Daddy," Gigi explained unnecessarily.

"Hand-prints," Rory said, holding up her green and yellow palms.

"And feet prints," Gigi added, lifting up her now almost clean feet one at a time. A few splotches of red and purple remained.

"Footprints," Rory corrected her gently.

"Rory is going to hang them up in my room so I can see them every time I come over," Gigi squealed excitedly. "They're going to make the office a bedroom and I can pick colours for it."

Christopher looked at her.

"I told her I had to talk to you about it first," she said, giving Georgia a fierce look. "Logan and I have decided to stay in France and I thought if it was okay with you and Lorelai maybe Logan and I could have Gigi once a week. Lexie too when she's old enough. How are they doing, by the way?"

"Yeah, good. Lexie is breathing normally. Lorelai doesn't have full use of her left hand yet and it's going to be covered in bandages for at least a week but they were lucky," he answered.

"Did you hear that, Logan?" Rory asked her husband who had entered the room. He was free and clean of paint. "Lorelai and Lexie are okay."

"Good news," he said. He held Gigi's bag up for her. "I put one of your paintings in for you to take home."

"Rory told me the good news. About you staying," Christopher said. "It's the best news I've had in ages."

"It just makes sense," Logan replied.

"Lorelai and I were hoping we could take you out to dinner, you know, to thank you for last night," he said. "It meant a lot to us."

"That isn't necessary. Is it, Logan?" Rory answered a little too quickly.

"No pressure, Ror. It's just dinner," Chris replied.

"Ace, we haven't been out to dinner in a long time. It might be fun," Logan agreed. Unbeknownst to her, he had made it his personal mission to get Lorelai and Rory talking again. Or at least on some sort of speaking terms. Good mornings and Merry Christmases if they saw each other on the street at the very least. Not that he was willing to forgive his mother in-law just yet. (Baby steps. Just baby steps for now.)

"It's just dinner," Christopher repeated. "At least come for me."

"Dad..."

"I know what we did to you was horrible but you managed to forgive me. Why can't you forgive her?"

"I thought there was no pressure," she grumbled. "Besides, I'm not quite sure I've forgiven you and I'm not quite sure I can ever forgive her."

"Well you're never going to know if you don't give it a chance, are you?" Christopher snapped.

Father and daughter engaged each other in a stare-off. (Look away and you lose.) Eventually Rory gave in.

"Fine. Dinner. But I reserve the right to be grumpy and sulky all night and if I choose not to talk to Lorelai, no-one can force me," she decided. (If they knew the things Lorelai had said to her...)

The men looked at each other and had a silent conversation as Gigi looked on in awe.

"We'll take it," Christopher decided. "Wednesday night, seven-thirty. I'll call you with the details."

They said their goodbyes and after hugging Georgia at least three times each, Rory and Logan finally closed the door.

"I guess I should clean this mess up," Rory sighed.

Logan pulled her into his arms before she could make a move.

"I'm proud of you, Ace," he said, dropping a kiss onto her head.

"I mean it when I say I don't know if I can ever forgive her," she said.

"I know and no-one's forcing you too but your dad is right. How will you know if you don't give it a chance?" he asked.

"I hate that you're right all the time," she groaned.

(She promised to give LORELAI a chance never promised that SHE would try.)


	14. On Top of the World

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Oh. I am not even going to bother to apologise. I'll just say thank you very much for sticking with me and with this story. Only a chapter to go after this so yay. Hope you enjoy this.

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen:** On Top of the World

* * *

"Rory! You came!" Christopher said, his voice full of surprise. He stood up and greeted her with a kiss and a quick squeeze.

"I said I would," she replied lightly.

"Sit, sit," Chris ordered. He pulled her chair out for her and moved it in as she sat. "Pretty classy, huh?"

"Very well done, Dad," she smiled.

'Where's Logan?" Lorelai asked from across the table.

"He had a meeting at a paper he's hoping to acquire so we thought it'd be best for him to meet me here. He should be here soon," Rory replied. "You look nice, Lorelai. I love that dress. Very Audrey."

"It's Chanel. Anne-Sophie got it for me at the Chanel sale as a birthday present. Well, a late one anyway," she explained.

"I know when your birthday is," Rory reminded her. She felt two hands on her shoulders. She looked up to find Logan. He dropped a quick kiss onto her lips. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself. Sorry I was late. I had a meeting with a paper we're trying to acquire," he explained.

"Rory explained it to us," Christopher replied. "Do you think you're going to have success with it?"

"I've never met a paper I couldn't buy," Logan grinned. "Lorelai, you look great."

"It's Chanel," Rory explained thus effectively bringing the conversation a complete circle.

The four adults sat in silence for a long, awkward minute before Logan cleared his throat.

"I hear this place has really good Creme Brulee," Logan offered. "My friends have raved about it."

"I don't know. We went to this one place near Yale that had the best Creme Brulee I've ever eaten to this day. It has a lot to live up too," Christopher disagreed.

Rory, Lorelai and Christopher exchanged a glance as they remembered the eventful Yale Parents Weekend. It was one of the last weekends before everything changed, before everything... but this wasn't them time or place to dwell on that. This was meant to be a thank you dinner and it was going to stay that way. Veering into any other territory was dangerous and was not going to happen tonight.

"Well, we'll all have to try it then, won't we? See if it lives up to the claim," Lorelai said. "So, uh, Rory, how is work going?"

"Really well, thank you. We're getting prepared for Fashion Week so we've been quite busy. Luckily it's Paris Fashion Week. You can't imagine how hard it is to organise moving half your staff across the ocean to watch some designer with an inflated ego parade gorgeous but unwearable clothes down a line of white plastic," Rory replied.

"I know it's not exactly hard-hitting news but I thought you liked your job," Lorelai said.

"I do. I just get stressed. For most people Fashion Week is the highlight of the year but for the editor in-chief it's a whole lot of cheque-signing and wheedling to get your staff the best seats and then having them whine when you can only get them in the third row. And this is the junior staffers who write captions for photos. They're lucky they get to go at all," Rory sighed. She looked at her hands and shrugged. "I love it though."

"You're very good at it," Christopher added and Rory gave him a smile. "So has everybody decided what they want?"

The four nodded and Chris called out for the waiter. They ordered their mains and two bottles of wine which Rory was almost positive wouldn't be enough. They chatted amiably enough while they were waiting but Rory was right about the wine and by the time their meals came, they needed a new bottle of red. Rory reached for it and filled her glass. She spilt a little onto the pristine white tablecloth and frowned.

"Brazzlefrat," she muttered, mopping it up with her napkin.

"Brazzlefrat?" Logan asked with a chuckle.

"It's a... Gilmore thing," Rory answered. She caught Lorelai's eye and they offered each other a small smile.

(They had to start somewhere.)

* * *

"Logan? Is that you?" Rory called from the bedroom.

"Yeah," Logan called, closing the door behind him. (Who else would it be? He wondered. Sometimes people asked stupid questions.)

"Can you come in here?" she replied.

"Just let me put my stuff down," Logan answered. He dumped his bag and some folders in the study/Gigi's room. He then made his way into the bedroom. Rory was sitting on the bed trying not to smile. She looked so cute that Logan had to kiss her. "What?"

"There's a spider in the bathroom," she said. "Can you get rid of it for me?"

"I suppose," Logan said, suppressing a shudder. (Why did women always assume that men weren't scared of spiders too?)

Rory waited patiently as he went into the bathroom and looked around. She heard him muttering to himself and then there was dead silence. He walked out of the bathroom and peered over at her.

"You didn't find it?" Rory asked innocently. She stood up and rested her palms against her thighs. "Maybe you should look again."

"I didn't find a spider but I found this," he said, brandishing a pregnancy test. "It's positive."

"Yep," Rory said. She smiled brightly and nodded. "It's positive."

"You're pregnant?" he exclaimed.

"That's generally what the smiley face means," she replied. She watched as his face split into the biggest smile she had ever seen and within seconds he was bounding across the room and dragging her into his arms.

"That is the best spider I have ever seen," he whispered. He squeezed her tight. When they pulled apart they both had tears in their eyes. Logan wiped the happy tears off Rory's cheeks and she did the same for him.

"I can't believe it, Logan. We're going to have a baby," Rory beamed. "A little baby boy or girl. Are you happy?"

"Ridiculously," he cried. He grabbed her by the chin and kissed her on the lips then the forehead. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she replied. She kissed him on the lips again and sighed blissfully. "I can't believe it. I just can't believe it."

(Good things come to those who wait.)

* * *

"That is great news, kiddo," Christopher said when Rory told him the news. "Hey Lor. Come here."

"What's up?" Lorelai asked sauntering over to the kitchen bench.

"It's Rory. She has some news. Hey, Ror, tell your mum the news," Christopher said.

Before Rory could answer, the phone was thrust into Lorelai's hand.

"Hey babe," she said.

"Hey!" Rory cried, still unable or unwilling to call her 'mum'. Lorelai could practically feel her joy oozing through the phone. (Sure things were better but when was the last time Rory had sounded so happy when talking to her mother? No time lately, that was for sure.) "Guess what?"

"You dyed your hair purple?" Lorelai guessed. (May as well try to bring back some of the old Gilmore girl routine.) "No, you shaved all your hair off, you wear a dog collar and you want us all to refer to you as 'your darkness?'"

"I'm three months pregnant," Rory cried.

Lorelai's eyes immediately filled with tears and she wiped them away.

"Wow, babe. That is so so good. Wow. I am so happy for you. Congratulations," Lorelai enthused. She hoped she sounded genuine because she was so happy for her eldest daughter. "Don't you think I'm a little too young to be a grandmother though? I might have to start using a purple rinse in my hair just to get used to the idea."

"You'll be a great grandmother," Rory said quietly. They both knew it took a lot to say those five words and Lorelai appreciated it more than she could tell.

"Thanks," she answered, not having the words to reply. "I hope you'll let me. I want to be there for you and for this baby."

"Thank you," Rory said. "I want you to be there too. Hey, can you put Georgia on? I want to tell her the news myself."

"Sure thing. Congratulations again. And to Logan too. I'm really happy for you two," Lorelai finished. She placed the phone down on the counter, cursing herself for not having portable phones. "Gigi! Phone for you. It's Rory."

There was a loud clattering of feet as Georgia raced into the kitchen. She reached up for the phone and put it to her ear.

"Rory!" she cried happily. "Can we play Uno when I come over on Wednesday?"

"Sure. We can do anything you want to do... within reason," Rory answered. "Hey, G, I have some exciting news for you. I'm going to have a baby."

"A boy or a girl?" Georgia wanted to know. "And when? And can I play with it when its born?"

"It won't be for another seven months and I don't know if it's a boy or a girl. You can play with it though when it gets older. This means you're going to be an aunty," Rory answered. "Are you excited?"

"Very very excited. This so cool," she cried. "Daddy wants the phone back. Love you!"

"Love you too, Gigi," Rory replied. She heard her sister hand the phone over to their father. "Yeah, Dad?"

"I thought we could take you out for dinner to celebrate," he said.

"Sure. Sounds good. Umm, call me with a time and a place. I've got to go," she answered. "I'll see you later."

"Bye kiddo. Love you. And congratulations again."

Rory hung the phone up and sighed. She turned to Logan who was sitting on the opposite side of the kitchen bench listening to the conversation.

"They excited?" he wanted to know.

"Very. Gigi almost had a conniption," Rory answered. "Dad wants us to have dinner again."

"That's three dinners in five weeks," Logan noted. "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah. It'll be fun," she shrugged.

But she smelled a rat. Almost as if Christopher thought he could repair the relationship over dinners.

(And the funny thing was, he did.)

* * *

Faye and Gina did not disappoint when Rory told them. They squealed so loud that half the office came running to the door to see what was going on. Rory sighed and with a big smile told everybody that she would be leaving in five months. There were a few genuine smiles, a few jealous snarls and even some tears. But Rory didn't care. She was on top of the world.


	15. The Apple of His Eye

**Gilmore Girls**

**Wu Feng Qi Lang**

**A/N:** Wow. It has been over two years since I updated this. This has just been a CRAZY RIDICULOUSLY busy year. I would not be surprised if nobody read this but I did say I would finish it and I always keep my word. So here it is the final chapter. It might seem like I didn't really finish all the stories (mostly just the Lorelai/Rory one) but I was never going to make them all better again. I didn't think that was realistic. What I wanted to do was get them back to a point where they were happy to be in each other's lives. So, without further ado, here is the end! Enjoy.

**Summary:** Rory doesn't want to do this anymore. (Waves Without Wind.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gilmore Girls nor am I affiliated with it in anyway. I have taken the title from 'Falling Leaves' by Adeline Yen Mah.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen:** The Apple of His Eye

* * *

She was born on a Sunday afternoon in April. She was a tiny thing with a slightly cone-shaped head and some light downy hair. Her mother had been in labour for two hours, pushing, groaning and threatening to pull her out by her hair (if she had any) if she didn't hurry up and be born. But then, there she was. And although the pain wasn't immediately forgotten, one look at her face, one moment of hearing her cry, showed that it was at least worth it.

Marnie Rochelle Huntzberger. The light of their life and the apple of her father's eye.

* * *

Lorelai was at Rory's bedside within an hour, beaming and cooing at the small bundle.

"Chris, how much does she look like Rory when she was first born?" she asked. She held her arms out gratefully when Rory offered her Marnie to hold. "Oh, she is so tiny. Kind of makes me want another."

"Lorelai, let's let our baby turn one before we start thinking about the next one," Christopher replied, with a panicked look on his face. He came to stand next to Rory's bed and kissed her on the cheek. "You did good, Ror."

"Isn't she the greatest?" Logan beamed. He hadn't stopped smiling since the squirming bundle was placed in his wife's arms. "I can't believe that we made that."

"You never get over that feeling," Lorelai murmured. She looked over at Rory and winked. "Never."

* * *

Life with an infant was challenging, Rory soon realised. It wasn't that hard to find thirty minutes to have a nap… if she didn't mind leaving the washing unwashed or having a shower herself. And it wasn't that hard to feed a child… unless she had somewhere she was supposed to be twenty minutes ago and Marnie just would not feed. And it wasn't that hard to change a babies nappy… until the baby wet herself just as Rory was about to do the new nappy up. And it wasn't that hard to have five minutes alone with Logan… as long as the five minutes were at 1.55am just before Marnie's 2am feed.

But the frenzied first month of having a newborn settled quickly into a schedule that she, Logan and Marnie could cope with. Gina and Fay came to visit when they could and cooed over Marnie allowing Rory time to down some coffee (decaf, cause caffeine isn't good for the baby), shower and do a load of washing. Her parents would have been over more if they didn't have children of their own. Still, she saw them more than she had before and it was good. She had already realised that things would never be quite the same again but she liked where they were.

(And while having a child of her own didn't help her to understand why they had done what they had done, it filled her with enough love to begin to accept it and forgive them).

* * *

"Hey, Logan?" Rory said. She was sitting in the rocking chair with Marnie patting her back and looking out the window.

"Yeah, Ace?" he replied as he turned around to face her.

"I think I'm ready to go home now," she said. She looked up from the window and twisted her head to look at him. He walked back over to her and knelt down next to her.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. I want to raise our daughter back in Hartford with her cousins and with Paris's kids. I want her to have the life that I never had. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret anything about my childhood. How could I? I just don't want her to want for anything. I want her to go to Chilton and Yale, if she wants too. I want her to know Luke and Kirk and Miss Patty and Babette. I love Paris. You know that. But I just want to raise her back home," she explained.

"I can't say I'm disappointed," Logan replied but she can hear the uncertainty in his voice and see it on his face. "What about your parents? What about your sisters?"

"I know," she murmured after a silent moment. "Things are good with Mum at the moment but I honestly don't think that going back to the US is going to change that. I'm going to miss her and Dad and the girls but they can come and visit in their holidays and we can come back for Christmas or whatever. We don't have to go. It's just something I've been thinking about."

(He hears the resignation in her voice and that's when he realises how much she wants to go home. So they will. Anything for her).

* * *

"Mum?" Rory said. Although better than previous years, the long-distance still makes the line crackly.

"Hey, kiddo," her mother replied, grateful to hear Rory say 'mum' so easily.

"Merry Christmas!" Rory said, smiling into the phone.

"Merry Christmas, hon," Lorelai answered.

"Hey, guess what? Marnie said her first word today," Rory beamed. "She said 'da.' Well she said it about five thousand times and she must love the attention we give her when she says it because she won't stop. She thinks she is so clever."

"She is clever," Lorelai cooed. "That is so exciting."

"I can't believe you aren't here. I thought you were planning on coming over here for Christmas. What happened?"

"Sherry was here to see Gigi so we couldn't really leave," Lorelai answered. "We might try come in a few months."

"Well, we would love to have you. Did you get your parcel from Grandma?" Rory asked, changing the subject. (Her mother was never coming back to the States. She knew that now).

"Yeah, I loved it. It must have cost a fortune in postage though. I'd forgotten how heavy it was," Lorelai replied. She rolled her eyes to herself. As if her mother cared a whit about the price of postage. "I'll call her to say thanks later."

"I thought you'd like it. You're probably more excited than the girls," Rory mused. "Did you tell them it used to be your dollhouse?"

"Yeah. Gigi thought it was the coolest thing ever and Lexie being a twenty-two month old just wanted to stick the furniture in her mouth. I thought you might have wanted to keep it for Marnie though."

"Oh, Grandma got her one of her own. She's not even interested in putting the furniture in her mouth yet. Speaking of the girls, is Gigi up yet? I'd love to say Merry Christmas," Rory asked. She could hear Logan and his family talking in the room next door. Marnie was more than likely the centre of attention as Honor's two month old son, Harvey, was asleep in the guest room.

"She's with Sherry today but we'll call you when she gets back. I'll get Chris for you. Have a Happy New Year, Rory," her mother answered. Her voice was strained but Rory ignored it. If Lorelai wanted to hold back, that was her issue.

"Mum, I love you," Rory said before she had time to stop herself. She listened to the slight pause on the other end and heard a small sigh.

"I love you too, Rory. I always have," her mother answered. She smiled to herself, aware that Rory couldn't see. "Here's Dad."

There was some muffled sound and then her father came on the line.

"Hey, Ror," he said and she could tell that he had a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, Dad. Merry Christmas!"

"Right back at you. Hey, guess what Lexie did today."

"Guess what Marnie did today?" she retorted. "Said her first word."

"That is a fantastic Christmas present. What did she say? Did she recite a Keats poem? A Pat Benatar song? If she's your kid, she's probably pretty well advanced," her father joked. "She'll be starting at Chilton Prep in no time."

"Nope. Just said plain old 'da-da.' Logan is over the moon but when I tell him she's probably not going to get into a good school with that kind of language, he probably won't be quite so thrilled. So tell me about what Lexie did. And tell me what you got for Christmas…"

(And there it is. Always easier to forgive the father than the mother).

* * *

The sun shone in the windows. She moved to roll out of bed, away from her husband but he reached over and pulled her back. She giggled and struggled but not very hard. There was no more sleeping on separate sides of the bed. They were back to sleeping so close that they almost melded into each other.

A few quiet noises and 'da-da-da-da-da-DA-DA-DA' came from the baby monitor. Logan laughed at his impatient daughter and reluctantly loosened his grip on his wife.

"She is definitely my child," he murmured.

"Impatient and entitled? Yep, she is definitely a Huntzberger," Rory replied. "I'll go get her."

"No, let me. She is calling out for me you know," he teased. It was a joke he never got sick of.

"You think that just because she said 'da-da' first that she loves you the best. I don't think so," Rory retorted. She stood up and stretched as Logan left the room. She went into the bathroom and washed her face and when she came back into the room, there he was holding their little girl.

She couldn't imagine wanting to wake up to anything else in the whole world. And it made her smile.

(What was once was not perfect is perfect again).


End file.
